


Noir Minuit

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Gen, Humanstuck, Meowrails, Moirails
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-07-06
Packaged: 2018-01-21 19:18:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 42,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1561187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A street girl finds herself among people still locked in the turmoil of their past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arsenic Catnip

**Author's Note:**

> **I'll be blunt and say all there is to say:**   
>  **Welcome to the story, reader! I hope you enjoy.**

_Plip, plip, plip._

He strode forward at a brisk pace, his boots occasionally falling into small puddles left over from yesterday’s rain.

It was a dark and still night, and he knew that walking alone in the night was dangerous, especially in this city.

He paid this fact no mind; he also knew that he was fully capable of defending himself.

He would usually go out into the streets in the evening to ponder anything that might be troubling his already troubled mind. The silence helped him think, and he liked to believe that he enjoyed being alone as well.

Tonight he was mulling over a very difficult decision. He had worked with these people for a very long time. Following his boss’s orders was something he had no problem with before; it had given him a purpose, a mission he could easily carry out.

He used to believe that he was fiercely loyal to this cause. But lately he had begun to doubt himself. Was it really worth it?

His coat gently floated behind him in the wind. He usually did not wear such attire, but it was easier to conceal weapons in this garment and it was rather cold out. He did not think the cold would bother him much, but who knows?

He heard someone or something rustle near him. He whirled around to face the source of the sound, but there was no one. He felt himself tense just like he always did before a fight. He stayed absolutely still, and let his eyes take in his surroundings.

Waiting, and watching.

There. A shadow flitted across the dimly lit wall, and he swung his arm at the stranger. They ducked with a speed he did not think was possible. It would later cross his mind that he had no reason to attack.

Yet another side effect of this accursed mess he had gotten himself into.

But right now, he was against an opponent that jumped around so much that he could not get a good look at them. He threw a punch, and his fist landed in his opponent’s side. He heard a yelp that clued him in on the stranger’s gender: a girl. He took a moment to realize the absolute ludicrousness of the fight, here he was, wasting his time with a street girl. In this moment he was violently tackled to the ground by the girl, and he was finally able to see her face.

There was something catlike about those green eyes of hers, and he was pretty sure that she was hissing at him. She had short brown hair framing her face that was almost black (though it could have been lighter, the lamps in this area were barely working). He pushed her off with no effort; she was rather light, though he supposed that he was rather strong. He grabbed her by her shirt collar, observing her oversized green trench coat.

“Let me go!” she yelled. He said nothing, and instead noticed that the girl did not seem frightened as much as she was angry. “Let me go or I will slit your throat!” she continued. He glanced down at her hands to see weapons resembling claws attached to her gloves. He dropped her, a motion the girl was clearly not expecting as she lost her balance and fell onto the ground. He towered over her, examining her slim frame. “Is that all you do? Stand and stare at people?” she hissed.

“You need to eat more.” he commented, ignoring her questions.

She stood and brushed herself off. “Oh, sure, this street girl will just go home and open her refrigerator and then make herself a sandwich. Would that make you happy?” she said bitterly. He was silent for a moment, wondering if his decision was insane or not.

For some reason, he wanted to help this girl. Maybe because it had been so long since he had actually been legitimately kind to someone that did not involve any business of any sort. Or maybe it was because it was the first time in a long time that he had held someone in his grip and they were unafraid.

He held out a hand. “Come with me.” he stated bluntly.

She stared at him as if he had grown another head. “Are you kidding me? For all I know, you’ll kill me, or… you know.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I want to help you.”

“Well, I don’t want to be helped.” The girl started to slowly back away, but he grabbed her wrist.

“You do not have a choice.” he deadpanned, and turned to take his reluctant companion to his home.

She resisted less than he expected, keeping up with him most of the time, yet complained rather often. He was about to go through a shortcut he frequently used when he felt her stop. He sighed again. “What do you want?” his voice reaching a low growl. He glanced at her and was surprised to see her looking quite nervous. “Can we not go this way?” she asked, eyeing the alleyway as if it was some monster gearing up to devour her. He shrugged and went the long way. At one point she asked him to remove his hand from her wrist, and when he told her that he was not falling for such a simple ploy she promised him that she would not run. He was starting to hurt her wrist, that’s all.

He watched her closely, trying to decipher her words. All of a sudden, she was no longer intent on getting away from him. She must have seen him watching her because a wry smile crossed her face. “I’m not running away because you’ve made me curious, and I want to see how this turns out.”

He averted his gaze and focused on the path in front of him. “Curiosity killed the cat.” he said matter-of-factly. She laughed. “Trust me, I’ve taken risks in my life. If you wanted me dead, then I’d be dead.”

“Suit yourself, then.” He usually followed this logic himself, but he had a friend or two that would say otherwise. This girl was trusting him.

A very dangerous idea.

He mentally berated himself for even having the silly notion to assist this girl. He did not want to get attached to her, because he knew that this would only lead to her untimely death. But perhaps…

Perhaps she might provide the answer to his dilemma.

They arrived at his mechanics shop. “This is where you live?” the girl inquired. “Yes and no. I have a business running in the first floor while my living quarters are on the second, along with the kitchen and another room that I use for recreation.” She giggled. “Living quarters? You sure like to talk all fancy and sophisticated.” she teased. He decided not to reply as he unlocked the door. The girl stared at the worktables and the several damaged robots, then followed him up the stairs.

He showed her to the kitchen and motioned for her to sit down. She watched him warily as she slid into a seat. “What would you prefer to eat?” he asked her. There was a look of incredible yearning in her eyes as she murmured, “That sandwich sounds pretty good right now…” He felt himself smile, and he wondered how long it had been since his last smile. He fixed the girl a sandwich with plenty of contents, including meat that he didn’t even know was in his refrigerator, him being a vegetarian.

The girl ravenously devoured the sandwich as he himself poured himself a glass of milk. He offered her some orange juice to drink, and once they were done with their respective drinks, they simply watched each other, waiting to see what the other would do.

The girl spoke up first. “Thank you.” she said quietly. “I don’t know why, but you’ve given me something I haven’t had properly in a long time.”

He nodded. “You’re welcome.” He hesitated; once again he wondered if he was making the right choice.

“If you want, you can spend the night. There is a couch in the adjoining room.” he offered. The girl smiled, but then frowned. “Ok, but just to make sure… you’re not planning on raping me or anything, right?” she practically squeaked. He looked at her with mortification. “Oh, _no_!” he exclaimed. “I would not even _think_ of doing such a thing!” He saw relief flood into her eyes.

“Alright then, I’m good.” She stood from her seat and made her way across the kitchen only to stop halfway. She turned to face him. “You know, it’s going to be kinda weird sleeping in a house owned by some guy whose name I don’t even know.” He found himself smiling again. “My name is Equius. Equius Zahhak.” he replied. The girl beamed and said, “Well, my name’s Nepeta.” She turned away again and left the room, leaving Equius alone in the kitchen to mull over what he had just gotten himself into.


	2. The Nervous Bull and the Graceful Ewe

Nepeta woke up from what seems liked her best night’s sleep ever. She stretched like a cat on the couch, yawning.

Wait, what?

She leapt off the couch, trembling slightly until she remembered the events of last night. She relaxed and took a moment to examine her surroundings. A TV, a workout machine thing, a table…

She sat down cross-legged on the ground, thinking. Should she stay here? Was he even going to let her stay?

Nepeta wasn’t sure if she should just walk out the door right at that moment, or sneak out the window, or what, but decided to stick around a little while longer. A one or two day break from her street life might be beneficial to her.

“Now… where is Mister Equius?” she whispered to herself. Talking to herself was a habit she had, as well as pretending that she was a cat while out on the streets. She actually learned a lot from watching cats, and she found no harm acting like one when by herself. Some of the people she had once known thought that she was actually part feline, and though she wished that it was true, it wasn’t happening anytime soon.

She slunk out of the room, looking for him. Nope, not in the kitchen… She tentatively knocked on the door that led to his room, but there was no answer. “Hmmm…” she hummed under her breath.

She heard faint noises from downstairs and decided to investigate.

Some people were mulling around in the workshop, either examining the intact robots or standing I line to have whatever machinery they had to be examined by Equius. He was no longer wearing a coat, and instead was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and cargo pants. He seemed intensely concentrated on the device before him, and Nepeta noticed beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He decided to leave him be. Instead she acted as if she was just another customer, occasionally stopping to chat with other people.

Slowly but surely, people started to file out the door. Nepeta waited patiently for everyone to leave. She caught Equius continuously glancing at her.

Finally, everyone was gone, leaving them alone. Equius sighed and got up from his seat. “I suppose you want to get going…” he said. Nepeta didn’t say anything at first, then she looked up at him. “Do you mind if I stay here for a while? I want to see if I have a chance at living a life that isn’t out on the streets.” she told him. He looked at her, and Nepeta supposed he had a thoughtful expression on his face. Those shades kinda covered it up. “I suppose it is fine.” he finally said. Nepeta beamed and jumped up and down. “Yay! So, uh, can I help you around here or something?” Equius glanced around. “Not at the moment, but perhaps later you can be of assistance.” Nepeta smiled to herself; his “sophisticated” talk was pretty funny. “Also, you should probably go and eat some breakfast, Nepeta.” Oops. “Nah, I’m not hungry.” she said, waving him off.

“No, go and eat something.” he insisted.

Nepeta shook her head. “Not hungry!” she declared.

He glared at her. “I am telling you to go upstairs and _eat_ , Nepeta.”

“No!” She actually did want to eat, but she didn’t want to lose this battle.

“Yes.” he countered. “Nepeta, I will continue to tell you to eat until you do so.”

She pouted and trudged past him to the stairs. As she went, she noticed something on his arm.

“Hey… Equius, is that a tattoo?” she inquired, leaning in to take a closer look. It was a blue arrow with a line through it at the bottom, and Nepeta was pretty sure it had to do with those zodiacs. She faintly remembered a woman who she thought to be her mother telling her about them. This one was… Sagittarius? As she leaned forward, Equius stepped away from her.

“Funny, I didn’t think you were the type to get a tattoo!” she giggled. She was trying to be light-hearted, but instead Equius just stiffened. “It was from… earlier days.” he grumbled. “Please do not mention it again.” A bit put off by his reaction, Nepeta bounded upstairs to the kitchen. She rummaged around in the cabinets and fridge and decided that it would be safest if she just made that “Instant Oatmeal.” She wasn’t sure if she had ever eaten oatmeal, but there were instructions on the little packet that were pretty easy to follow. After all, she didn’t want to make a huge mess trying to fix herself breakfast.

After eating breakfast (which wasn’t too bad), she headed downstairs. She made a mental note to ask Equius to get some more meat. Food was food, but if she was going to live the high life she was going to _enjoy_ her food. Just as she stepped of the stairs the door opened and two customers walked in.

One was a women with long, wavy, black hair tumbling down her back. She practically glided across the floor in her flowing red skirt. The second one was shorter, probably a head taller than Nepeta herself. He had a short brown mohawk and had olive skin while his companion had a rather pale complexion. With some shock, Nepeta noticed the young man’s robotic legs.

“Oh, Tavros, hello.” Equius said, getting up from his worktable. Apparently Equius was familiar with this guy. Tavros shuffled his feet and replied, “Uh, hi.” He seemed pretty nervous, though Nepeta wasn’t sure why. Equius then seemed to suddenly notice the woman standing there. Nepeta almost giggled; now _he_ was the one that seemed nervous. “Aradia… hello. I was not… expecting you.” Equius managed, an odd tremor in his voice.

_Aha, what’s this?_ Nepeta thought.

“I just wanted to see what kind of place you were running here, and also wanted to accompany a friend.” The woman, no, Aradia said with no emotion.

“…Right.” Equius stuttered. He turned to Tavros. “Alright then. As always, sit in that chair, please.” he told him, motioning to the chair. Tavros walked forward, still looking incredibly uneasy.

Equius looked over him as the young man fidgeted in the chair. “Any rusting?” Equius queried.

“Uh… no… I don’t think so?” He stammered. Equius gave a slight nod. “Are all your movements flowing the way you want them too?”

“Actually, um. Lately the ankle part of uh, my left leg seems to be moving pretty, um, awkwardly.” Tavros admitted. Equius nodded again. Without turning, he called out, “Nepeta, can you get me my toolbox? It is on my worktable. Get the smaller one.” At this Tavros sort of twisted in his chair to see Nepeta standing at the bottom of the stairs. Aradia simply raised one delicate eyebrow. “Okay!” she exclaimed, bounding over to the table. The toolbox wasn’t too heavy, but Nepeta was a bit surprised by the weight because of its misleading size. “Oof!” she squeaked. This time Equius turned his head. “Are you alright?” he asked with a note of concern. “I’m fine, I’m fine.” Nepeta assured, handing him the toolbox. As he got to work on Tavros’s robot legs, Nepeta took the opportunity to stand near Aradia.

“Where did he pick you up from?” the woman asked with unbridled curiosity. Nepeta shrugged. “Well, I’m from the streets. Equius must have been feeling real nice or something because he offered to give me dinner and a decent place to sleep.” she explained. “Well, actually it was more like he commanded me to eat and then offered the sleep…” Nepeta added, wrinkling her nose. Aradia nodded. “Are you planning on staying?” she questioned. Nepeta shrugged again. “I think I will stay for a while! There’s something about him that makes me want to hang around… I think he’s kinda lonely here. I know the feeling! Besides, something in me made him want to help me, so I think it’s for the best, and also I want to take a break from the streets.” she replied.

Aradia fixed her with a serious gaze. “If you feel that way, be my guest, but I must warn you.”

Nepeta felt a chill. “…Warn me about what?” she asked, feeling uneasy.

“Equius can be very dangerous to get attached to. You might find yourself in trouble before long.”

Before Nepeta could ask what exactly she meant, Equius spoke up. “You are free to go, Tavros.” he told his seated client. He gingerly stood and walked forward a bit. “Yeah, uh, I think it’s fixed.” he said. Equius nodded and placed his tools back in their place.

“It was nice meeting you… Nepeta, was it?” Aradia said. “Remember what I told you.” Tavros joined her and together they exited the shop, Tavros giving a little wave to Nepeta which she returned.

Equius looked concerned again. “What did she tell you?” he asked. Nepeta noticed that he was sweating again. “Oh, the girl you have the hots for?” she replied, giggling. Equius’s face flushed. “Nepeta…” he started. “Oh, don’t worry, I won’t tell.” Nepeta teased. Then she paused. “She said… she said that you were dangerous!” she exclaimed. Equius did not say anything for a moment.

Then he sighed. “I suppose that I am, Nepeta. But know that I am not about to let you get hurt because of me. Do you understand?”

Nepeta smiled a bit. “I think I do!”

Equius looked at her with a mixture of relief and uncertainty. “Good, because the next customer that I expect is someone I do not want you to get involved with. Go upstairs and do _not_ go downstairs until I tell you to, alright?”

Nepeta gulped. “Okay…” She bounded up the stairs, feeling all sorts of confused and nervous.


	3. Web of Lies

Equius paced back and forth in his shop. He was not looking forward to a conversation with her, especially with Nepeta around. Maybe she was not as bad as he thought, but from any angle one would still describe her as dangerous. She had back-stabbed him before, just as he had double-crossed her. He really did not want to get any more tangled in her intricate web of lies. He heard the door open and mentally cursed himself for perspiring so much.

“Heeeeeeeello, Equius.” Vriska said, drawing out her greeting as usual. She raised her robotic arm, motioning to him. “Time for my daily checkup, hmmmm?” Equius gestured to the chair near him. “You do understand that such checkups do not necessarily have to occur every day, correct?” he grumbled. “Of course! I just want to _talk_ , Equius. Y’know, because you’re all holed up in here with no one to talk to!” she exclaimed innocently. Equius decided not to reply and focused on her arm instead. Everything was in order. He was about to send her on her way when she fixed him with a glare. “We’ve got some business to do tonight.” she hissed. “I completely expect you to show up, because if you don’t, our “amazing” leader is going to flip his shit.” She leaned back. “Again.” Equius sighed. “…Of course.” he grudgingly said. Every time they went out on “business,” he felt less inclined to participate.

Somewhere in his head, it felt like a switch had been flipped. He knew that tonight was the last night he agreed to indulge in such nefarious matters.

All of a sudden a grin spread across the woman’s face. Brushing a lock of dark brown hair away from her glasses, she commented, “Well, well, Equius! You didn’t tell me that you had a _guest_!”

Equius’s blood ran cold. “I do not know what you are talking about.” he said through gritted teeth. Vriska pulled away from him and strolled over to the staircase and called, “Hey you! Yeah, I saw you there, come down! I promise I won’t bite.” Nepeta peeked out from the side. “There you go.”

Equius watched, tense and dreading every moment. “How rude, Equius! You didn’t even introduce me to your little friend!” she exclaimed, a poisonous smile plastered on her face. Equius opened his mouth but Nepeta spoke up first. “I’m not _that_ little.” she responded a bit timidly. Vriska laughed a bit. “Of course.”

“I’m Vriska.” she stated matter-of-factly. “And you are…?”

Nepeta glanced at Equius, and he shrugged his shoulders in defeat.

“I’m Nepeta!” she answered. Vriska nodded, looking over the girl and most likely assessing her traits.

“Weeeeeeeell, Equius, I wish that I could say that we had an interesting chat, but you just insisted on being boring again today. Your house pet was probably the highlight of my day, though!”

His hands curled into fists. “Vriska, she is not a house pet.” he growled.

Vriska sauntered over to the door, opening it slightly. “Wow, Equius. I was _joking_.” she said, rolling her eyes. “See you tonight.” And with that, she left.

Equius exhaled and mopped his forehead with a towel. He really did not enjoy working with Vriska. “Equius?” Nepeta queried. “Are you okay?”

He sighed and turned to her. “I am fine. But I believe that I specifically told you stay upstairs, Nepeta.” he scolded sternly. She clasped her hands behind her back and looked at her feet. “I know, but was just so curious, and…” Equius sighed again. “Curiosity killed the cat.” he said bluntly. Nepeta smiled a little. “Equius, who was she exactly?” she probed. He froze. He would rather _not_ get into details, so instead decided to be vague. “She’s a business partner.” Nepeta frowned. “I… I don’t like her much.” she said quietly. “She’s kinda scary, why do you work with her?” A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but he did not let it follow through. “Actually, I was planning on terminating our agreement tonight.” he told her, setting his decision in stone.

It was time for him to move on. He was stuck in the past, a time where he had no purpose in life. Now, he had a small business he could run. In a way, this girl was prompting this decision as well. Maybe it was because he was just sick of hurting people for no justifiable reason, and she turned out to be his first step away from violence.

She was watching him carefully now. A sudden thought hit him. “Nepeta, are you planning on leaving today?” he asked, surprising himself with how much he wanted her to say no.

“Um… am I supposed to leave today?” she inquired tentatively. “No. It is up to you.” he replied with some regret. What a lonely soul he was, desperately holding on to even a chance of company.

“Well, I think I’ll stay for a while!” she announced, looking straight up at him. His heart lifted, and he only half-heartedly tried to mask his relief as he said, “Good. I suppose we will have to set up a more suitable place for you to sleep.” She shook her head. “No, the couch is really comfy! Really, I don’t mind.” He eyed her thoughtfully. “…Fine.” he relented. Then he glanced at the clock. It was nearing noontime, soon he would have to eat some lunch, which meant he had to make something for Nepeta as well. And after lunch, the customers would flood his shop. Nepeta would definitely prove herself useful.

He gestured for her to go upstairs and followed after her. “What’re we doing now?” she asked. “We are going to eat lunch.” he told her. “Okay!” she exclaimed brightly. “And also, Equius, you need to get more meat!”

“No thank you. I am a vegetarian.”

“ _I’m_ not! Get more meat, _please_?”

“Nepeta…”

“Please please please!”

“You sure are picky for someone that came off the streets.”

“If I’m gonna be living the high life I want to actually enjoy my food! So get meat.”

“Are you seriously ordering me to?”

“Um… not really?”

“I will get meat, but know that I will not touch it.”

“More for me!”

\---

It was late in the day.

In fact, it was so late, that one could no longer call it day. It was nighttime, the stars glimmering in the sky and the moon a sliver of light.

Equius sat at his worktable, drumming his finger on the surface. He was prepared for the night, and by prepared it meant that he had a knife secure in his belt for whatever situation that arose which could not be solved by hand-to-hand combat. Nepeta was sound asleep; he had checked on her before heading downstairs. She was curled up on the couch, breathing softly. She had looked so fragile, so helpless. But someone like that couldn’t survive in the streets of Alternia. As he watched over her sleeping form, wondering, it had occurred to him that the night could be cold. So he brought in a blanket and draped it over the girl, who snuggled into its comfort.

_See, Equius? Perhaps there is a sliver of kindness left in you._

_That or this girl is truly driving you insane._

When the busy hour had come, she was a huge help. She brought him supplies and greeted customers. She was extremely cheerful and bubbly, and many of the customers seemed to enjoy her presence. A presence that Equius was quickly getting attached to. It was only the second day, and not even.

And once again he found himself thinking of how desperate he was for company.

He shook away his thoughts and checked the time. It was time to go, and finally settle this.


	4. Serious Business

He strode out the door, quietly shutting it and making sure to lock it securely. All the windows were firmly closed as well.

He had barely gotten halfway to his destination when he started to get second doubts.

What if something happened to Nepeta?

What was he thinking, leaving her alone?

Why was he worrying so much?

What if he failed to do what he planned?

The original group was a mere memory now. They met, all of them, pretending like nothing was different. For those that left, it was easier, maybe. Maybe not, knowing that four of them were still doing what the others had wisely abandoned.

He was incredibly nervous. In fact, he felt himself perspiring for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. Every time another person left, their leader became angrier. More dangerous.

Sometimes Equius believed that perhaps he wasn’t the best choice for a leader. There could have been someone else. Before, he would never entertain such a thought. But he was older, and more experienced now. Who knew, maybe it was too late to turn around and join the others.

He hoped not.

He tried to settle his nerves. He definitely did not want to alert the others of his discomfort.

He slipped into an abandoned warehouse and into a back room. Down the stairs, into the basement, into the underground tunnels.

“Hey, motherfucker.” the voice grated against his ears. He could not stand the sound of his voice, its fluctuating tones or the madness barely concealed behind the words. But he was in no position to complain. “Hello, Gamzee.” he managed. The tunnels were dimly lit, and Vriska appeared from the shadows. “Hey there, Equius. Nice of you to come.” she purred.

Gamzee joined them, leaning against the walls of the tunnels, his hair seeming even messier than usual. Chuckling darkly, he said, “Heh, we motherfuckers will have a grand time tonight. Ain’t that right, Eridan?” The fourth member of their party was leaning on the opposite wall, arms crossed and shoulders hunched. “I guess.” As usual, he had his cape and scarf, probably for dramatic purposes. Equius never got why he wore such frivolous attire, nor the reason for dying part of his brown hair purple. “What exactly are we doing tonight?” he inquired. “Weeeeeeeell, remember that little gang we came across a while ago?” Vriska started, propping her elbow on Equius’s shoulder. He wanted to push her away, but tried to be civil. “Yes.” They were a ragtag group, and they were trying to steal some of the weapons that his group had in their collection. “W-well, w-we are goin’ out to teach them a lesson.” Eridan continued, his odd stutter and accent prevalent in his voice. _A lesson_. That meant one thing and one thing only: death. He tensed, and he could have sworn that Vriska grinned. “Why, exactly?”

“BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T PAY THEIR MOTHERFUCKING DEBT!” Gamzee roared, causing all of them to jump. Eridan looked half scared to death, and even Vriska looked a bit frightened. Equius just felt himself start to perspire… again. “What debt, exactly?” he ventured. Eridan looked at him as if saying, _Equius w-what are you doin don’t ask questions he’s goin to murder us all!_ Instead Gamzee coolly answered, “Aw, don’t ya know, brother? We didn’t kill them the first time, and they got all this motherfucking loot they had to give us. And they didn’t.” Even in the dim light, Equius could make out Gamzee’s eyes, showing off all the insanity contained in one demented face-painting man. He wondered what was it that he had done to deserve such a monster of a leader. He looked harmless enough… but that was nowhere _near_ the truth.

“Let us simply get this over with.” he relented, prompting a terrifying grin from Gamzee. Gamzee laughed quietly again, then roughly motioned for them to follow him. Vriska yawned and strolled over, Eridan trudged over, a sullen expression on his face. Equius thought that the brooding Eridan would have left before him, but he supposed that anything was possible. “Equius!” the clown called. Equius followed, every step heavy.

 

**11:30 PM**

_Equius snapped the man’s neck, feeling the life go out of the body. Regret settled on his shoulders like a dense blanket; he should have just knocked the man out. Another member of the rival gang rushed at him with a knife, Equius simply grabbed his wrist and turned the knife back at his assailant, leaving him bleeding on the floor. He heard several more gunshots and he glimpsed several men falling before Eridan. He stood at the top of the stairs with his pistol drawn, with no trace of any emotion on his face. Equius knew the man was fonder of rifles, but in this situation, smaller firearms worked better._

_A couple more screams emanated from the room where Vriska was. He didn’t want to know what was going on there. Vriska could be downright violent when she felt like it. Not as violent as Gamzee, but…_

_A bloodcurdling yell came from the upper levels of the building._

_Speak of the devil._

_He could hear Gamzee laughing, a sound that chilled him to the bone. The man sure did a great job of perpetuating the stereotype of killer clowns. If anyone survived up there, they probably would not sleep again._

_Eridan vaulted over the stair railing, landing behind Equius with his cape elegantly falling around him._

_He sure did a phenomenal job of being dramatic._

_“I’m done up there, how-w about you, Eq?” he asked. He still used the nicknames he used to call everyone when they were younger. Equius grunted and gestured to the carnage around here. “Does it look like I am not finished?” he questioned. Eridan meekly shrugged and glanced at the man bleeding on the floor. “I think he’s still aliv-ve.” They looked at each other, and left him alone._

_Vriska slammed her door open, causing a corpse to fall over at her feet. “All of them are dead over there.” she announced. They nodded in acknowledgement._

_“HEY THERE, MOTHERFUCKERS!”_

_They all froze and looked up at Gamzee, who was leaning over the railing with a crazed expression. “Yeah?” Vriska asked._

_“Y’know, I was thinking…” he started. A grin spread across his face. “I WAS JUST THINKING THAT WE SHOULD… send this motherfucking place all up in flames.” Eridan shifted from foot to foot. “Gam, how-w are w-we ev-ven gonna do that?” he inquired. Gamzee burst into laughter and pointed behind him._

_A trail of gasoline was barely visible. Equius was pretty sure that the others were wondering how Gamzee got his hands on gasoline as well, but they just watched silently as Gamzee procured a matchbox from his pocket. He struck a match and a quivering flame flickered to life. He nonchalantly tossed the match onto the gasoline, which flared up immediately._

_Soon enough, flames licked the edges of the room as they fled the scene._

_“..help.” Equius glanced at the floor to see the man that he allowed to live reaching up to him._

_He had a choice now. To abscond, or to help this man out with him._

_“Equius!” he heard someone call him, he did not know who it was. Heat and smoke were slowly overtaking him, so quickly made his decision._

They departed, not even turning to see the burning building collapse. They heard the fire trucks coming, and maybe a police car or two. It was best not to stick around. They separated and went their own ways, with only Eridan actually saying goodbye.

As he neared his home, Equius smiled a bit to himself. None of them knew that he was never returning to work with them. Frankly, he did not even think they would care.

He crept up the stairs as quietly as he could. He thought that he heard Nepeta say something, but he was not sure.

He walked into his room and put his knife away. He had not even used it today. It had truly been a long night. The bed seemed to envelope him as he sunk into a dreamless slumber.


	5. Duodecim Angelos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, readers! The next five chapters will be posted at the end of next week.  
> This is assuming that you're not from the future where they're already posted.  
> If so, disregard the previous statements, and enjoy.

The next morning began like every Saturday, except this time Nepeta was thrown into the mix. They ate breakfast, set up shop and dealt with whatever customer that walked in the door. Luckily, Vriska never came on weekends. Neither Tavros nor Aradia showed up either, much to his disappointment. More because of Aradia than Tavros.

Alright it all because of Aradia.

At one point Nepeta teased him about waiting for the woman to show up, which brought up another subject. “Do you have any friends, Equius?” Nepeta inquired. He rolled his eyes, but she obviously couldn’t tell because of his shades. “If by friends you mean people that I speak to often, then yes.” He answered reluctantly. “Will I ever meet them?” she asked.

Oh, fiddlesticks.

He had hoped to avoid speaking with any of them today, but with Nepeta nagging him he might as well introduce her to the rest. She did need others to talk to besides himself; he was pretty sure that she was a lot more social than he was.

But wait, was it worth the risk?

Some would not pose a threat, but Gamzee had a chance of showing up. Eridan, too. He really did not want her to get involved with all this turmoil.

“Well…” he started, but Nepeta stared at him with pleading puppy (kitty?) eyes. “Fine.” he grumbled.

 

_Game2 of Armageddon_

“A video game store?” Nepeta asked, feeling pretty confused. She didn’t know much about video games, but Equius didn’t really seem to be the type of guy that would be into them. Well, maybe he did like games, but secretly. She didn’t know the guy too well yet, so why judge?

“Yes.” he answered gruffly. He acted like he didn’t actually want to go here, like he was reluctant to see his friends. Nepeta was curious either way. Tavros seemed like a nice guy, if he was there she could talk to him more. Aradia seemed kind, too, and Nepeta still couldn’t get over Equius’s _obvious_ crush on her. He was head over heels for that woman. Maybe Nepeta could play matchmaker and figure something out! It was something she always wanted to do, actually. To be the one that prompted true love… okay, it was silly, but she wanted it anyway. Equius opened the door and motioned for her to go first. She giggled and stepped it.

Oh my god so many video games.

They were everywhere! Racks and racks of videogames. The floor was carpeted, and the design was a combination of red and blue swirls. The walls were blue, too, and all the shelves were red.

Now that she thought about it, the name on the store was red and blue, too. Apparently it was some sort of theme here. Equius joined her, and led the way through the labyrinth of shelves.

They were almost to the checkout area when Nepeta started to hear people talking.

“…entire place was in flames.”

“TZ, didn’t you thay there wath a thurvivor or thomething?”

“Yeah, he had lost a lot of blood but he was alive. He said that someone helped him out, but barely remembered anything.”

“Why the fuck would they-”

They finally reached the source of the voices. One was standing behind the counter with the cash register, a guy with relatively neat dirty blonde hair and odd glasses with one lens blue and the other red. Something told Nepeta that he was the one in charge of the place. Leaning on the counter was a woman with short auburn hair with bright red glasses and a wry grin. Two tables were set up in front of the counter, and two people sat at the one closer to it. There was a young man with spiky dark brown hair looking rather impatient, a scowl filling his face. Across from him sat a good-looking woman with short, black hair that framed her delicate face nicely. While the others were wearing more casual clothing, she wore an elegant dark green dress.

When they approached the scowling guy stopped mid-sentence. For a moment a look of surprise crossed his face, then returned to a scowl. “Equius? You came early.” he said. Well, he sort of yelled it; he had a pretty loud voice. Then he seemed to notice her. “Oh god, who the fuck is this?” he exclaimed. She felt Equius tense next to her, so she hurriedly spoke before anything bad happened.

“I’m Nepeta! And your name is?” she mewed. The man glared at her, but relented. “It’s Karkat.” he grumbled. The woman across from him sighed and stood up. “Excuse Karkat for his rudeness, it is simply the way he is.” the woman apologized. She held out a hand and Nepeta shook it. “My name is Kanaya Maryam. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, dear.” Nepeta smiled a bit. “Nice to meet you, too!”

The woman leaning on the counter nodded toward her. “I’m Terezi.” she said, grinning. “I have no idea what you look like, but nice to meet you anyway.” Nepeta scrunched up her nose and started, “Um, what do-” The man behind the counter cut her off. “She’th blind.” he lisped wearily. “I’m Thollux.” “Ok… Sollux.” she replied, hoping that she was pronouncing his name right.

“I might be blind, but it helps that I can smell and taste colors, so it isn’t too bad! I think I’m better off than all of you, actually.” Terezi laughed. Karkat groaned and put his head down on the table. “Oh my god, Terezi, no one can actually smell and taste colors.” he growled. Terezi laughed again. “Whatever you say, Karkles.” Nepeta giggled. Kanaya glanced at Equius. “Where did you pick this one up?” she queried. Equius seemed pretty uncomfortable, so Nepeta decided to speak for him again.

“Oh, he met me out on the streets and offered me some food and a place to sleep for the night, and I’ve been hanging around him for a while.” she explained. Karkat looked sort of shocked. “Are you serious? I didn’t think the assh-” He quickly glanced at Equius, then continued. “I didn’t think he had it in him.” Nepeta shrugged, then slid into the seat next to Kanaya. “Do you mind?” she asked, and Kanaya smiled and shook her head.

Nepeta motioned for Equius to sit as well, but he replied with a barely perceptible shake of the head and went to stand at the side. She shrugged and went back to talking with the others.

“So what’s this fire you guys were talking about?” Nepeta questioned. They glanced at each other, then Karkat glanced at Equius again. “See, I’m a cop, and there was a huge case of arson last night.” Terezi told her. Nepeta’s eyes widened. “That’s so awesome! You being a cop, not the fire.” she exclaimed, quickly adding in the last bit. Terezi laughed again. “Nope, the fire was awesome; it tasted delicious.” Karkat groaned again. “Terezi…” She waved him away. “Anyway, the whole warehouse was burnt to crisp. Sure smelled like it. They found a survivor, luckily.” Nepeta nodded, engrossed in the story.

“Oh hey, AA.” Sollux suddenly said. Nepeta turned to see Aradia. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Equius, who looked like he was sweating again.

Seriously, that guy.

Aradia saw Nepeta and waved. “Hi, Nepeta!” she greeted her, smiling. Nepeta waved back. Aradia seemed a lot happier when she wasn’t warning her about Equius. The rest exchanged greetings as well, and to Nepeta’s surprise, Aradia went right ahead and gave Sollux a hug, which he returned (albeit a _bit_ awkwardly).

What!?

Nepeta glanced at Equius; he was fidgeting a bit but didn’t seem _too_ jealous. So maybe they were just friends? She was going to figure this out.

“AA, you know Nepeta?” Sollux asked. She shrugged. “I met her when I went with Tavros for his checkup.” Sollux shrugged back.

Equius was silent.

Nepeta shifted uncomfortably.

“So, Sollux, do you like own this place or something?” she asked.

“Yeah, thith ith my shop.” he answered. “Bet you never thaw a plathe tho fucking awethome before.” Karkat mimed himself gagging. “Sollux, I can’t walk in here without all the red and blue searing a hole through my mind. How can anyone look at your face and not say, ‘Holy shit, there’s those two goddamn colors again. Somebody please give me a gun so I can save myself from the misery of seeing those colors _ever_ again!’” he jeered. Sollux snorted. “Once again, KK, your attempth at inthulting me fall flat on the ground. Here, look at my eyeth, KK.” Sollux took off his glasses and glared at Karkat. “Thith ith the look that thayth: ‘ _I don’t give a thit.’_ ” Terezi burst out laughing. “Seriously, Mr. Appleberry Blast, it’s pretty hard to take you seriously with your ‘lithp.’”

Sollux’s eye twitched and he shoved his glasses back on his face. “Leave the lithp alone!” he growled. It was Karkat’s turn to laugh now, and Nepeta was put off by how void of mirth the laugh was. “See, even Terezi agrees.” he retorted. Terezi grabbed her walking cane (it had a dragon head; seriously this lady was amazing) that was leaning against her leg and used it to tap Karkat on the head. “Nope, I never said anything about the colors, they’re delicious.” Karkat grumbled to himself, but Nepeta noticed that he looked just a _little_ amused.

“Did we not already have this argument?” Kanaya asked wearily. “Yes.” they answered. “Then why are you repeating it?”

The look on Karkat’s face when he was struggling to come up with a suitable answer prompted both Aradia and Nepeta to start laughing. At first they just giggled a bit, then couldn’t help but laugh harder. Soon Terezi was laughing again, and Kanaya smiled and laughed a bit as well, and then even Sollux was chuckling.

Karkat was clearly not appreciating the sentiment.

Equius did not join in the laughter either. In fact, he was more like a shadow. He hadn’t said a word the entire time.

A little later Tavros joined them, and the conversation continued to be lively and a lot of fun. Tavros apparently really, really liked animals! He told Nepeta that he loved cats, but unfortunately couldn’t interact with them because of his allergies.

Somehow the conversation took a turn into fashion, and it turned out that Kanaya was developing her own fashion label. She offered to make some clothes for Nepeta and she agreed, but didn’t let Kanaya touch her trench coat.

There was no way she was doing anything with that trench coat.

“Are you sure? It looks very overused…” Kanaya probed, but Nepeta adamantly shook her head. “Exactly! I’ve had it since forever, and I want to keep it the way it is.” she declared. “Suit yourself.” Kanaya replied.

After a conversation about video games (Karkat told Tavros to stop playing games for girls, Kanaya told him off for being rude, Sollux rambled off about games nobody knew) and some puns from Sollux (cue groaning from Karkat), another person joined their group.

“Hiiii, everyone, so sorry I’m late, I just found these _beautiful_ fish and I just _had_ to add them to my tanks!” a tan woman with _reely_ (whoops, really) long, wavy, chocolate-colored hair. Her glasses had pink frames and she was wearing a tank top and a skirt. She had bracelets on both wrists and was wearing a bead necklace.

“FF! Finally!” Sollux exclaimed. She came over and he twirled her around, pulling her in for a quick kiss.

Wow, so adorable! Well, the Aradia mystery was fixed.

Nepeta expected Karkat to fake gag again but he just seemed a bit awkward and thoughtful.

The woman turned and saw Nepeta. “Oh, you’re so adorable! What’s your name?” she squealed. Nepeta laughed. “I’m Nepeta.”

“I’m Feferi! Where’d you come from?”

They quickly explained, and Feferi beamed. Then she paused, and beamed again.

“Karcrab!! Stand up!” she commanded. Karkat put his head in his hands. “Why do have to use that nickname?!” he groaned, reluctantly standing. “And why the fuck did you want me to stand up?” Feferi motioned to Nepeta for her to stand too, and she did (a little nervously).

She saw Equius watching them closely.

Karkat must have figured out what Feferi was doing because he groaned again and facepalmed. “Feferi-” he started. “No, this is important!” Feferi said. She grabbed their arms and put them right next to each other.

What _was_ she doing?

“Karcrab, congratulations!” Feferi announced, clapping her hands. “We finally found someone that’s your height! Oh wait, she might even be a little shorter!” Sollux put a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. Karkat turned red with anger. “Yeah well, Nepeta, how old are you even?” he asked her gruffly. For some reason, Nepeta felt incredibly nervous. Maybe it was because they were so close? “I’m, uh, I’m eighteen!” she stammered.

“See?!” he yelled with a triumphant air.

“Karkles, this doesn’t prove anything except for the fact that you’re as short as someone who’s two years younger than you.” Terezi pointed out. “…Oh. Fuck.” he swore. Nepeta quietly slunk back to her seat. “Are all of you twenty?” she asked. Some shook their heads.

Sollux, Tavros, and Karkat were all twenty, while Terezi, Aradia, and Feferi were twenty-one. Kanaya and Equius were both twenty-two. Nepeta felt really young amongst all of them now.

“But age doesn’t really fucking matter, so let’s just talk about something else.” Nepeta thought that Karkat only said that because he was still smarting about his height, but when she looked up he was looking at her. Did he notice her discomfort?

“Anyway! Honeybee, how’s the shop holding up?” Feferi asked Sollux sweetly. This time it was Terezi and Karkat who were stifling their laughter, and Aradia seemed to find the nickname funny as well. Sollux ignored the others and replied, “Eh, dethent enough.”

They shared more small talk, and Nepeta noticed that some of them were glancing at the clock with an odd expression of hope written across their faces.

“So then, uh, this guy comes up, and says,” Tavros was saying. He apparently helped at an animal shelter, and a rather odd man had come in that day. He was about to continue with his story when he was cut off.

“Oh, Taaaaaaaavros, what _did_ he say? I’m dying of curiosity, _please_ don’t stop.” Vriska quipped.

When Nepeta and Equius had walked in, everyone had stopped talking.

When Vriska, Eridan, and Gamzee arrived, everyone froze. The friendly atmosphere seemed to acquire a chill of its own, and the stillness was as taut as a rubber band about to snap.

Nepeta felt a feeling of dread when she saw Vriska; she had hoped that Equius didn’t consider her as one of his “friends.” She didn’t know the other two; the one with the scarf and hipster glasses looked even more sullen than Karkat, while the one with the face paint just looked silly. He smiled and waved at her, and she giggled and waved back.

Kanaya gave her a look of concern but she had no idea why.

Vriska walked over to Equius and grinned. “Decided to introduce Nepeta to the gang, huh?” she asked. Equius moved a little away from her and grumbled, “Perhaps.”

“W-well you tw-wo seem to hav-ve already met, but how about a proper introduction for the rest of us.” scarf guy said with an odd accent. “I’m Eridan Ampora-”

“The douchebag.” Sollux finished for him. Eridan sent a pointed glare at Sollux. “Nobody asked you.” he spat. He turned to Nepeta again. “Nepeta, right?” She nodded. “Can I call you Nep?” he asked. She shrugged.

Eridan then seemed to notice Feferi. Something about him changed, and he seemed a lot bitterer. And sad. “Hey, Fef.” he mumbled. “Hi, Eridan.” she replied, her bubbly demeanor dissolving. Sollux wrapped an arm around her waist as she leaned into him, kissing her on the head. Nepeta watched with some interest as Eridan clenched his fists and jaw.

Very interesting…

Eridan slid into a seat at the second table, somewhat across from Kanaya and Nepeta. “Hey Kan.” he said. Kanaya nodded in acknowledgement. Vriska sat at the other table as well, much to Nepeta’s relief. Vriska was a lot closer to Terezi, actually, who just waved at Vriska with a grin. Tavros also seemed rather relieved; and Nepeta wondered if there was a story behind that.

The clown guy clambered into the seat between Nepeta and Tavros. Tavros looked a bit nervous, but he always looked nervous. “Hey sis, I’m Gamzee.” he droned. Nepeta giggled. He looked so silly! “I’m Nepeta, but I think you already figured that out.” He chuckled and leaned over onto his elbows.

“Hey Karbro!” he greeted. Karkat managed a hello but looked incredibly tense. Kanaya looked like she was poised for attack, and Aradia just looked uncomfortable.

Seriously it’s just a guy with clown face paint, she didn’t get why everyone was so edgy.

She glanced at Equius who was wearing a blank expression. She noticed his stance, though. A stance ready for a fight.

Maybe it wasn’t Gamzee, but Vriska and Eridan? Yeah, that was probably it. Eridan was creeping her out a bit; was he staring at her?

“Eridan?” she asked tentatively. “W-what?!” he spluttered. She laughed a little. “Calm the fuck down, Eridan.” Karkat said, sighing.

The rest of the time was spent in a relatively lively atmosphere, but all the while Nepeta couldn’t help but shake the tense feeling that was surrounding them all.

It was near the end of their conversations when she noticed something interesting.

“Hey, Sollux?” she called. “Yeah?” he replied indifferently. She got up and looked at his wrists closely. Just as she thought. “That’s the sign for Gemini, right?” she asked, gesturing to his golden tattoo. She noticed that the room had gotten rather quiet. “Yeah.” he answered, pulling his hands away. He had it on both wrists, which was interesting since Gemini _was_ the sign of the twin. “I just thought it was interesting because Equius also had a zodiac tattoo thing.” she explained.

“It’th jutht a cointhidenthe.” Sollux lisped. Nepeta shrugged and went back to her seat.

“Noooooooo, there’s no _way_ it could just be a coincidence!” Vriska exclaimed. They all glared at her (for some reason) and she just grinned.

Equius cleared his throat. “Nepeta, I think it is time for us to go.” he told her, saying his first full sentence in the entire time he was there. “Nooo why?” she whined. She relented, though, and stood up. “Aw, but you were so much fun!” Feferi exclaimed. “Here, have my phone number!” Nepeta smiled apologetically. “Thanks, but I don’t have a phone.”

“You can use mine, Nepeta. I barely use it anyway.” Equius offered. Nepeta beamed. “It already has their phone numbers, by the way.”

They left the store together, with Nepeta giggling and referring to different parts of the day and Equius showing the ghost of a smile.

Nepeta felt so happy; she had never had real friends before. Having friends on the street was a rare thing unless you ended up sticking with each other. Because before long, you’d have to go your separate ways. Now she didn’t have to worry about getting enough food to survive the day, so friends were something she could afford. It was nice, talking with them. Even when those three had come, it was still a lot of fun. Equius didn’t talk much, but that was okay.

When they got home (home!), Nepeta tackled him to the ground with a hug. “Nepeta?” he managed, his shades slightly askew.

“Thank you, Equius. Thank you so much. For everything.”

He smiled, a rare expression she had already grown fond of.

“You’re welcome.”


	6. Pale Interactions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! Here are the next five chapters, as promised.  
> As usual, I hope you enjoy.

Equius allowed himself to sleep in that morning, since it was a Sunday and he did not open his shop then.

Well, he tried to sleep in that morning.

“Equius!!!! Wake up! You’re going to be late for work!!” Nepeta yelled. He grunted and turned over on his side.

“Equius!!” Nepeta called again. She sounded as if she was right behind his door. “Equius, I’m gonna come in here!” she threatened. He managed to lift an arm and made a shooing motion, realizing only a moment later that it was completely useless; she was behind the door, genius! He let his arm flop back onto his bed and hoped that she would not go through with her threat.

The door behind him opened slightly, but he was too busy being half-asleep to notice. A silent Nepeta crouched like a tiger about to pounce.

A moment passed and Equius tensed, but it was already too late.

He felt a large object land on top of him, and he yelled in surprise.

Nepeta’s face loomed above his own, grinning.

“Now, why wouldn’t you wake up?” she inquired playfully. He pushed her off (gently) and she jumped to the floor. “Because today is a Sunday, and I do not operate my shop on Sundays.” he explained groggily. She paused, her mouth opened in a little “o”. “Huh.” she commented. “Oops.” He shrugged, then yawned. She giggled, then yawned too. “At least I got to see your room!” she squealed. She examined her surroundings. “Equius, some of these posters are kind of weird.” she said, making a face. He huffed and crossed his arms. “It is _art_ , Nepeta.” he replied, a bit miffed. She giggled again, then crossed her own arms. “It is art, Nepeta.” she mimicked, making her voice gruff. Then she noticed his square sunglasses beside his bed. With a triumphant smile, she shoved them on her face. It looked quite odd especially with her lopsided grin. “Hi, I’m Equius and I’m big and strong!” she imitated. He shook his head, though not without amusement. He held out his hand for his glasses.

She pouted but slipped them off her face. Before handing them over, though, she stared at his face. It took a minute but he realized that she was looking at his eyes.

_Right, she had never seen them before._

“Equius, had anyone ever told you that your eyes are a really pretty shade of blue?” she asked. He shook his head and she gave him the glasses. “That’s probably because you hide them behind those silly shades all the time!”

Yes, but with his eyes unhidden his emotions were visible as well. No need to draw back the curtain, he would rather stay in the shadows.

Nepeta’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “But you’ll take them off sometimes, right?” she pleaded. He sighed and shook his head. “Just for me, though?” she begged. He sighed, running a hand through his messed up hair (which reached his shoulders) and nodded. “Yay!” she squealed.

She trusted him, he might as well as trust her.

“Breakfast!” Nepeta called. He smiled wryly to himself; Nepeta’s enthusiasm was infectious.

\---

She ran her finger across her plate, picking up any bits of food left, then gave it a satisfied lick. Equius was watching with what she assumed was mild disgust.

Stupid shades.

“Nepeta, please refrain from doing that again. It is highly undignified.” he commanded.

“Sorry, but the bacon was _so_ good!” she exclaimed. She was pretty sure that he winced then.

“Also, refrain from mentioning meat. I tolerate your enjoyment of it, but I would rather not have anything else to do with it.” She sighed. Why did Equius have to be such a strict vegetarian? “Fine!” she reluctantly complied, throwing her arms into the air.

Later, she lounged on the floor, propping her head up as she watched Equius tinker with one of his robots. He was so concentrated on his work that he seemed to be in whole other dimension. Silently, she crept out the door into the hallway. Where would Equius keep his phone? His room, probably. Nepeta had never really worked with a phone before, but she didn’t think it would be too hard.

She scanned his room, trying to find something that could be described as a phone. She found it in a drawer near his bed; it had a sleek design, with a blue, no, indigo case. It didn’t have any designs, but Nepeta was no expert on phone cases. She fiddled with it and pressed a button at the bottom of the phone, and it lit up! It projected another image that Equius would describe as “art,” eliciting a groan from Nepeta. This guy sure had some weird tastes.

_Tap twice and hold to unlock._

Um, okay. She tapped it twice and continued to hold in her hand. Whoops, it meant to keep her finger there. She felt a bit stupid, but hey, she never had a phone of her own! She followed the directions correctly this time, and something else popped up.

_Enter password._

Nepeta felt like screaming in frustration. Of course this thing had a password! She just wanted to see if she could chat with her new friends, is that too much to ask?!

“Nepeta?”

_Oh shit._ She usually didn’t curse too much out loud, but it wasn’t as if she had her ears closed all those times out on the streets.

“Hi Equius! I thought you were working on your robot!” she exclaimed a little too loudly. She held the arm holding the phone behind her back, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“What is that behind your back?” he questioned. Nepeta felt her smile falter.

_Noooo, stay calm stay calm._

“Nothing!” she said with faked cheeriness.

Wow she was really trying this hard to get something she didn’t even know how to use.

“Nepeta.” Equius deadpanned.

“Equius?”

“You are holding my phone, are you not?” he probed. She slouched over in defeat. “Yeah.” she mumbled, holding it out. “Sorry.” He took it from her and looked it over. “No need to apologize, I barely use this anyway. Were you trying to contact someone you met yesterday?” Wow, he was good at this. “Yup. Is that okay, or?” she inquired hesitantly. Indecision wrought his face. “I… suppose.” he said uncertainly. “Yes! But, um, there’s a password thingy.” He laughed, a sound that brought a smile to Nepeta’s face. “Password thingy? Yeah, I’ll fix that for you.” he replied, his voice slipping into a much more casual tone. Nepeta raised an eyebrow and Equius stiffened. “Er… give me a moment.” he said. Nepeta stifled a laugh.

She sat on his bed and he joined her, showing her how to use the phone. It was pretty easy, really. He showed her the contacts list and she was interested to see that all the contact pictures weren’t pictures of his friends, but their zodiac signs.

“Wow, you guys are almost a complete set!” she exclaimed. She was rather curious, though, what was up with these people and zodiac signs?

“Yes, well, there is only eleven of us.” he grumbled. “No, Equius, there isn’t!” she scolded. He looked at her with a blasé expression. “And why is that?” he asked. “You forgot me! And guess what my zodiac sign is?” she squealed. She couldn’t really place his expression, but continued anyway. “I’m a Leo! I think. That’s the one missing on your list, right?” He nodded.

“Nepeta, I hope that you do not mind me asking, but where did you learn about zodiacs?” he queried. She sighed, and leaned on his shoulder. He didn’t tense up like she thought he would. “My mom told me about them.” she murmured. “When I was real little.” Equius flicked his finger back and forth on the phone screen, sending the contact list bouncing up and down. “I can remember her… sorta. My dad too. And…” she stopped. No need to dwell on painful memories!

She had to move on.

“Anyway, Equius, are you gonna let me use your phone or what?” she asked, poking him in the shoulder. He handed it over and she mulled over the list. “Umm… who should I call?” Equius gave her a disbelieving look. “Are you actually asking me?” he asked incredulously. “I have no idea.” Nepeta gave him a look and he threw his arms into the air. “I do not know, call Kanaya. I believe she is of decent company.” Nepeta shrugged and tapped the icon. She put the phone to her ear and looked at Equius, who was looking at her.

_“_ Hello?” A calm voice crackled to life on the other end.

“Hi!!” Nepeta answered.

“Equius? Is that you?”

“Nope, it’s Nepeta.”

“Oh, hello, Nepeta.”

“Okay I _know_ I just met you yesterday and everything, but would you mind if we hang out or something?”

Nepeta saw Equius shift uncomfortably.

“Oh… Yes, that sounds like that would be nice.”

“Yay! Sorry, it’s just nice to have people I can talk to. Other than Equius, of course!”

“It’s alright! Do want me to invite over a few others?”

Nepeta giggled gleefully. It was funny how carefree she became a few days in comfort.

“Yes, that sounds great! Um… when should I come over?”

“Perhaps in an hour?”

“Okay! See you then!”

“Alright, goodbye!”

She looked at Equius. “Did you two arrange something?” he queried. She nodded. “Is it okay if I go over to Kanaya’s place in an hour?” He sat still, not replying.

“Equius?”

“Of course you can go. I am not trying to keep you cooped up in here all day.” Nepeta hugged him tight. “Thanks, you big dummy.” Equius glanced at the phone. “Nepeta, did you end the call?”

“What?” she asked, dumbfounded. He sighed and reached over to press the “End” button. He looked her over and Nepeta saw a ghost of a smile. “At least you will not have to deal with shopping for clothes for a while. Kanaya will probably fix that problem rather quickly.” Nepeta remembered how yesterday, before going to Sollux’s video game store, they had gone to a nearby mall to get Nepeta some decent clothing.

Nepeta was overwhelmed by the amount of people and Equius didn’t seem too overjoyed about the crowd either. They managed to squeeze into a shop, and Nepeta had a real hard time choosing. She chose some T-shirts and jeans, some sweatpants, nothing too fancy (One of her T-shirts had a cartoon kitty on it. There was no way she was not getting that one). All was good until Nepeta actually got lost amongst all the people. Her first reaction was to panic, but she managed to calm down.

Her second reaction was to look for Equius, but she decided to just stake out on a bench and wait for him to come to her.

He was rather flustered when he finally found her, but was glad she was okay. With this as her first experience at shopping, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go back. Five outfits were more than enough! But if Kanaya knew more about this fashion stuff, whatever! Nepeta would be glad to learn something new, even if it wasn’t completely useful.

Nepeta shook herself from her thoughts and tried to pay attention to Equius who was telling her what to bring. He was a bit over-protective, not that Nepeta minded. He was starting to be like an older brother… well, not really. She still didn’t know him too well!

\---

An hour later Equius dropped Nepeta off at Kanaya’s place, and watched as she knocked on the door and waited. Soon the door opened and Kanaya gave the girl a warm hug, with Feferi practically tackling her afterwards. He saw Aradia standing in the doorway giving a friendly wave and he inwardly groaned.

Why did it have to be her?

Kanaya saw him and gave a small wave, as did Feferi. Aradia did not acknowledge him.

It pained him to know that the woman he loved so much disliked him so. He told himself that his feelings were futile, but every time he saw her he felt his heart squeeze. He just could not help it.

Clearly a real relationship was anything but possible, so the logical choice would be to abandon the dream.

But of course he just kept dreaming.

He pulled over into his garage, sighing. He climbed out of his car and trudged to his door. He saw a figure leaning against the wall beside the door and immediately went on alert.

“Who is there?” he called warily.

“Y’know, if you didn’t wear those shitty glasses you might actually be able to fucking see who I am.” Karkat growled. “Are you going to let me in so we can have a nice, friendly chat or do I have to keep waiting on my ass here?”


	7. Happy Cat, Silent Horse, and an Angry Crab

“Come on in, Nepeta.” Kanaya said, ushering the girl into her home. Feferi was jumping up and down excitedly, her jewelry jangling. “This is going to be so much fun!” the brunette squealed, twirling Nepeta around. Aradia laughed. “Feferi, you’re going to scare away the girl with your enthusiasm!” she mock-scolded. Nepeta giggled. “Is Terezi coming?” Nepeta inquired. She was curious about the woman and was eager to learn more. Kanaya frowned. “No, she was busy. She has a case to deal with today.” she explained.

Feferi plopped onto a couch as Nepeta examined Kanaya’s living room. It had stylish furniture and the walls had swirly designs curling around the room. Two tall windows allowed for plenty of light to illuminate the colorful room. “Terezi’s like the best detective in the city! No, the county! Maybe the whole country!” Feferi gushed. Aradia joined her on the couch, smiling. “Feferi might be exaggerating a little, but Terezi _is_ really good at her job, blind or not.” she added.

“Wow.” was all Nepeta could say.

Kanaya left the room for a little while, and in that time frame the three other girls chatted about this and that. When she returned, she was holding a plate of pastries. A sweet aroma curled into Nepeta’s nose and she instinctively licked her lips.

“No, Kanaya, you shouldn’t have!” Aradia cried out.

Kanaya shook her head with a small smile. “You are my guests, so I might as well be a good host. Dig in!” she said the last bit rather awkwardly, but her guests didn’t notice; they were too busy enjoying her selection of pastries. She brought some tea as well, and soon they were having what seemed to be a little tea party.

“Oh mai goft thish ish sho goof!” Nepeta exclaimed around a mouthful of pastry. They all laughed, Feferi almost choking by accident.

Soon enough, they finished their tea and the platter was only sprinkled with crumbs. Nepeta was going to sweep them up with her finger but decided against it (partly for Equius’s sake).

“So… what do we do now?” Aradia asked.

They sat silently trying to decide. Nepeta asked if she could see Kanaya’s room, and the woman smiled and nodded.

Much like the living room, her bedroom had tall windows letting light cascade across the room. It was all very pretty, and Nepeta managed to wheedle from Kanaya the fact that the woman had designed her entire home by herself.

Nepeta was examining some books (she was pretty sure she remembered how to read) when she heard a shriek. She whirled around, tensing, to see Aradia looking at Feferi with shock.

Feferi was holding a pillow in her hand with a silly grin on her face. “Um, what did I miss?” Nepeta inquired.

“I hit her with a pillow.” Feferi explained giddily.

Nepeta… Nepeta wasn’t really sure what to think of that.

Aradia reached over to grab a pillow and whacked Feferi. “Ha!” she exclaimed triumphantly.

Feferi raised the pillow above her head dramatically and yelled, “This calls for war!”

The two girls proceeded to get into a little brawl while Nepeta awkwardly watched from the side.

“It is called a pillow fight.” Kanaya told Nepeta. “Do you guys do this a lot?” she asked, perturbed. Kanaya laughed a little. “No, Feferi just happens to be rather random.” Nepeta watched them a little longer, then grabbed her own pillow and pounced into the fray.

At first Feferi and Aradia were a bit surprised, but then continued with even more furor. Kanaya joined in too, but while the rest were practically just flailing their pillows around she was a lot more graceful with her attacks.

It helped that Nepeta was rather agile; it allowed her to dodge more of the pillows.

Who would have thought whacking each other with pillows could be so much fun?

While ducking under an incoming pillow, she took a second to wonder what Equius was doing.

It wasn’t like he could get into much trouble while she was gone.

\---

“What the fuck is going on, Equius?” Karkat demanded. Equius had reluctantly let him in, but was seriously regretting his choice.

“Nothing.” he replied.

Karkat raised an eyebrow. “I might be a complete asshole, but I’m not completely stupid.” he retorted.

_I find that hard to believe_ , was what Equius felt like saying. But he stayed silent.

“For the first time in a long while, you didn’t come with the other idiots like you usually do. And in case I’m being too vague, I mean Vriska, Eridan, and Gam-” Equius cut off Karkat with a wave of his hand.

“Perhaps I felt like coming early. Who are you to say that my actions are suspicious?” he stated, glaring at Karkat through his glasses. Sometimes Karkat interfered more than Kanaya did; at least her meddling was a lot calmer. Karkat returned his glare with his own smoldering gaze. “I say that they’re suspicious because you’ve NEVER done it before. We all know you like tradition and routine shit, so something’s up when you do stuff like this.” Karkat growled.

Equius merely shrugged.

It did not matter if he had left one side of the group; he was not planning on joining the other. No, he was stepping back. He wanted nothing to do with any of their plans any longer.

Karkat sighed and dragged his hand across his face. “What about Nepeta?”

Equius tensed. “What about her?” he replied testily.

For a moment they just watched each other, waiting for the other to make a move.

Karkat broke out of Equius’s gaze and crossed his arms. “I suppose it’s nice that you have someone to talk to, since you never seem to be able to get off your fucking high horse to interact with the rest of us. But for Nepeta I got to say that we’re pretty shitty company.” Equius clenched his fists as Karkat continued. “Obviously those that quit that godawful thing aren’t planning on doing anything. But the others will probably not return the favor. Your new friend could get in the middle of a fight, y’know. It’s all fun and games…”

Equius’s mouth drew back into a snarl, his foot sliding forward.

“Until she gets hurt.”

Equius yelled and lunged at Karkat, pinning him to the wall with his hand clamped around the man’s neck. He struggled, and Equius tightened his grip.

“What the fuck, Equius?” he gasped. “What part of the fucking point are you not getting?! I’m not trying to threaten you, I’m trying…” He gulped for breath as the grip on his throat tightened once more. “…I’m trying to warn you. Nepeta is going to get hurt.” Equius’s gaze hardened, but he let the boy go. He slid to the floor, coughing.

“Holy shit.” he heard him mutter.

“If you’re going to be so protective of her, you better not lash out like some crazed asshole like you did now. You’d probably scare her away.” Karkat commented, regaining his composure rather quickly.

Equius did not reply, he was busy controlling his anger.

“I’ll go now, but I need to know,” Karkat continued, heading out the door. “Did you quit?”

“It is none of your business.” Equius growled.

“It kind of is.” Karkat replied quietly.

And if Karkat talking quietly it was saying something.

He slammed the door a little when he left, leaving a silent room behind him.

It took a moment for Equius to snap.

He roared, taking out his anger on a nearby robot. It fell to the ground, fizzling a bit as he breathed in and out heavily.

Sometimes he wondered if the robots’ only purpose was to be punched and demolished by himself.

He sat on the steps and tried to compose himself.

Unfortunately, Karkat’s warning was not lacking truth. Though she had never been directly involved in those actions, having her around the others was making her involved nevertheless.

They did have fights; those times when the corner of a video game store turned into a tense turmoil, when weapons were drawn and threats were made. Their meeting area had always been near the back door, allowing a quick exit to where most fights that could not be settled by negotiation could be settled by other methods.

If Nepeta became entrenched in the turmoil…

Of course, he could just not go to the meetings.

Of course, he could just not bring Nepeta.

But he had already made a fatal mistake, and that was introducing the girl to the others. He had deluded himself with even having the notion that it would not cause any problems.

Nepeta was with Kanaya, Aradia, and Feferi. Aradia… he supposed that she and Vriska were most likely avoiding contact. Kanaya had been good friends with Vriska, nor was she a stranger to Eridan. He was not sure what her situation was now, but she had always been on top of everything, looking out for everyone and trying to help even if the help was not entirely necessary. He never knew what to assume with her.

Nor did he know what to think of Feferi. She could be dangerous, but at the same time he could imagine her causing any tumult directly. She was more inclined to assist than derail.

As for the rest, he decided not to dwell on their presence as of the moment. He would have to wait and see.

Sometimes he felt like all he did was wait and watch.

He heard his phone vibrate madly on his worktable. He really had not used it for quite a while. He sighed and went over to receive it. He glanced at the caller and broke into a sweat.

_Aradia Megido._

He gulped and mentally berated himself for being so nervous. It was probably just Nepeta calling… but what if it was not?

He answered the call and hoped that he did not sound as uneasy as he felt.

“Hello?” he inquired. To his dismay, he heard his voice waver.

He heard someone giggling on the other side and realized that it _was_ just Nepeta.

“Yeah, it’s me, calling from Aradia’s phone, heh heh.” she answered, still giggling.

“I figured out as much. Is there something you need?” he grumbled.

“No, but I just wanted to ask if it’s okay that I hang out with these three until like eight or so.” she explained. Eight? He wanted to say no, that she could come home, but it was more for his sake. So he reluctantly agreed.

“But I want you to call me to take you home no later than 8:30, do you understand?” he commanded.

“Yes! Wait… Equius… are you okay there?” she asked, her voice taking on a concerned tone.

What? “Yes. I am fine.” he answered quickly.

“You just sound a little… shaken up. And not only because of the obvious thing.”

He felt his face flush because of the “obvious thing.” But, “shaken up”?

No, he was fine.

Not like he punched a robot or anything.

“I am fine.” he repeated.

“Okaaay… bye then!” Nepeta replied.

\---

She hung up, feeling a twinge of worry. She saw the others look at her curiously, and she hurriedly handed back Aradia her phone. She supposed that it was a bit mean on her part to use her phone, but she was just teasing! Either way she was going to find a way to get those two together. Right now, though, she had other things to deal with.

“Ok, so we’re taking to the heart of Alternia City, Nepeta.” Aradia explained. Nepeta shrugged. “I’ve never been there.” she admitted. “Ooh, then you’re in for a treat!” Feferi exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “It’s so pretty in the evening, they have all these lights! And we can go around and show you the shops and restaurants and stuff!”

Nepeta perked up at the word “restaurants.”

“Restaurants? Like, food?” she asked excitedly. They all laughed. “The way you sound, I won’t be surprised if you ate Equius out of house and home!” Aradia teased. Nepeta stuck out her tongue. “I just wanna try out new foods and stuff.” she said. Kanaya smiled. “In that case, you will be glad to know that they have a wide variety of selections there.” Nepeta grinned and pumped her fist into the air. “I’m so in, then!”

Kanaya nodded and got up. “Just give me a moment, I will be right back.”

As she left Nepeta looked questioningly at the other two.

“She probably went to change her outfit to something more suitable for a night out.” Aradia supplied. “After all, she was probably only planning for us to stay at the house at first.”

Feferi hugged a pillow to her chest, and Nepeta wryly looked over the other pillows strewn across the floor. “Kanaya makes really pretty clothes, you should let her take your measurements some time!” she suggested. “I think she’s planning on starting her own design label. You know, like a brand of clothing.” she added, noting Nepeta’s confused look.

“Wow, that’s so cool!” she exclaimed. Then a thought occurred to her.

“What do you guys do? Like for a job or whatever.” she asked.

“I guess you could say I work at a university. They let me conduct studies there as an archeologist.” Aradia said, playing with the hem of her skirt.

“Archeo…what?” Nepeta probed sheepishly. “It’s someone that digs up things like fossils and studies them to find out what life might have been like way back in ancient times.” Oh. That sounded interesting, but still just a little boring. Aradia seemed to like it though, who was she to judge?

“Yeah, Aradia’s like a death fangirl.” Feferi laughed, rolling over onto her back. Aradia just shrugged with a little smile. “Anyway, I own so many tanks and sea creatures that I actually let people into my house as if it was one of those public aquarium places! So I get money from charging them to come in.”

Nepeta stared at her wide-eyed. “What kind of sea creatures?” Feferi laughed again.

“All kinds! Fish, of course, but also things like those adorable cuttlefish! Dolphins too, duh. Whales I haven’t found the space for, but I do have sharks. And jellyfish, and octopi, and manta rays… turtles too! Crabs, corals…” she rattled off a list of marine animals, and Nepeta felt like her jaw should have been touching the ground.

“Feferi has a really big house.” Aradia said, and Nepeta just nodded, awestruck. “Huh.” was all she could say.

Kanaya reappeared in the doorway. “Okay girls, are you ready?”

“Yes!” was the unanimous answer.

\---

Later Nepeta recounted the tale of their night out, showing off some shiny jewelry Feferi had bought for her and telling him of all the silly things they did and how much fun it was. She wistfully described the many types of food she had sampled, including desserts. Her face was hurting from smiling and laughing so much.

Soon, her head drooped and she yawned, and fell asleep in the car seat despite it being a lot earlier than her usual bedtime. Equius stole a quick glance at the girl slumbering near him, then returned his eyes onto the road.

He was just glad that she was back.


	8. Trollcop

The next morning was rather uneventful, customers came and went. When Vriska showed up Nepeta ran upstairs, not wanting to get into a conversation with the scary woman. Something about her just threw Nepeta off.

Equius didn’t give Vriska much time for a chat, anyway. He sent her off as quickly as she came, but she said something about a late night meeting.

When Nepeta was sure that she was gone, she bounded down the stairs in a rush. “Didn’t you say you didn’t work with her anymore?” she inquired. Equius shrugged.

“I do not. She just has not received the message yet.” he replied nonchalantly. Nepeta noticed something odd in the corner of her eye.

“Equius, what the heck happened to that robot!” she cried out incredulously.

“It… broke.”

She gave him a disbelieving glance. “It looks like somebody punched a hole in its gut and then whacked it around a bit.” Once again, she couldn’t place his expression.

“Comments?” she probed.

He shrugged. No comment.

Whatever! Either way, they had to focus on the customers coming in.

Basically, the service Equius provided was fixing machinery or building it for people. Apparently people broke things a lot, or they really liked Equius’s handiwork.

Having to deal with so much people was kind of a hassle, but fun nevertheless. She liked talking to people; it was something she always missed out on the streets.

She heard the door open; that was her cue!

She rushed to the customer walking in, reciting her lines.

“Hi! Welcome, how may I help you?” she chirped.

“Nothing I don’t need help.” Karkat grumbled.

She stared at him, confused. “Why are you here?” she questioned.

“None of your business. I wanted to talk to Equius, that’s all.” he scowled. Seriously, could this guy ever smile?

She hoped that he had smiled at least _once_.

“Well… sorry, but he’s kind of busy right now.” she said, gesturing over to Equius. He was preoccupied with fixing a watch (Nepeta supposed that it did count into his services, but then again Equius would never say no to any piece of machinery). “You can tell me and I’ll pass on the message!” she suggested. Karkat shook his head. “No thanks.” Nepeta just shrugged.

“Okay then! Suit yourself. I need to go and help out actual customers, so bye for now!” she chattered, eyeing a couple that just walked in.

She went to assist them, but…

Oh my god Karkat was holding her hand.

Okay, he wasn’t. He just grabbed her wrist, but it was close enough!

Did Nepeta have a little crush on Karkat?

Noooooo, what makes you think that??

“Um?” she managed.

“Are you okay here? Is Equius treating you alright? Because he’s kind of an asshole. I would argue that he’s more of an asshole than I am.” he probed, sounding just a shade of concerned.

“No, it’s been great! He’s really not that bad.” she told him.

She broke away from his grasp with her nerves all aflutter. She went to help anyone that needed the aid, and at one point passed tools over to Equius.

But she kept stealing glances at Karkat.

He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking as grumpy as ever. She had no idea why he made her so jittery.

As it got closer to noontime, people began to file out the door. Less people came in and soon they were alone.

Nepeta sighed in relief and leaned on Equius’s worktable. “Whew!” she exclaimed. “You sure get a lot of people on Monday!” Equius shrugged and mopped his forehead with a towel (he had a pile of them nearby). “There are usually more customers on Saturday, but you are right, today seems to be quite the busy day.” She tipped her head back to look at him upside down.

“Hey, not wanting to break into your touching conversation, but I’m still here, you know.” Karkat called from his post.

“Oh yeah, Equius, Karkitty said he wanted to tell you something!” Nepeta informed Equius. “Karkitty” fumed over his nickname while Equius seemed like he was considering breaking something over Karkat’s head.

“I thought we finished our conversation yesterday.” Equius said tersely.

“Karkat was here yesterday?” Nepeta asked, surprised.

“Yeah.” Karkat answered, watching Equius warily.

Nepeta was pretty sure she saw odd red marks on Karkat’s neck when he moved his head a little.

“You know what? It’s not even that fucking important, forget I even came.” Karkat grumbled, waving his hand as if brushing the idea aside.

Nepeta was still looking at the marks on Karkat’s neck. “Karkat, are you okay?” she asked a bit worriedly.

“What?”

“You have these weird marks on your neck. Like someone… strangled you or something?” she probed. He moved the collar of his shirt in an attempt to cover them up. “It’s nothing.” he stated hastily.

“Are you sure?”

“Dammit, yes!” he yelled. Nepeta shrank back a bit and Karkat faltered.

“Karkat, if you have no reason to stay I suggest you go.” Equius “suggested.” The way he was gripping the table, it seemed more like a threat.

Karkat left without a word.

“Okay…” Nepeta said, feeling really confused. Her nerves were still jumping around because of Karkat’s impromptu yelling but also Karkat in general.

“Yes, Karkat tends to be quite rude and loud most of the time.” Equius mused.

Nepeta gave him a sidelong glance. “I don’t think he’s too bad.” Funny, didn’t she just say the same about Equius?

Equius gave her a disbelieving look, and she gave him a smile in return.

“Anyway, before his interruption, I was actually planning on saying something.” Equius began. “And?” Nepeta prompted. “Unfortunately in fixing a device I discovered that my pliers are not in the best condition. For this reason I need to go and buy a new pair.”

Nepeta frowned. “Sooo, do I stay here, or…?” He shook his head.

“Certainly not. You will be coming with me, of course.” he assured her.

\---

“I can’t believe how long it took you to get those pliers.” Nepeta said, wringing her hands. Equius crossed his arms. “I needed to find those of the right quality.” he clarified with an air of dignity.

“Yeah well, it took you forever.” Nepeta retorted.

“They had changed their original location!” Equius protested.

“You could’ve asked! That’s a thing you can do, right?” she replied.

“Well… yes… but…” Equius said, faltering.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re too high and mighty for that, I get it.” Nepeta mock-grumbled.

A building caught her eye.

_Alternia Police Department_

“Woah, is that where Terezi works?” Nepeta asked.

Equius nodded.

“They call us the police, but I like to call them legislacerators. Just for fun.” a voice chuckled behind them.

They turned to see none other than Terezi standing with both hands on her cane, a mischievous grin on her face.

What a coincidence.

“Terezi!” Nepeta exclaimed.

The redhead laughed. “Hey there, what brings you down here?” she asked.

“Equius’s thingamajig broke and we came to get a new one.” Nepeta explained matter-of-factly. “Then we were walking home and bumped into you!”

Equius grumbled something about not using the correct terms for tools.

Something occurred to Nepeta. “Wait how did you know it was us? Because I thought you were…” she inquired. Terezi grinned and shrugged.

“Everyone has a distinct scent, and I just recognized yours.” Terezi told her. Nepeta nodded thoughtfully. “Kanaya said you had a case…?” she probed further.

Terezi snorted. “That wasn’t a case; that was child’s play. I just pretended that I didn’t know the culprit the entire time.”

Nepeta giggled. Equius just shifted uncomfortably; the conversation was dragging on for a longer-than-expected while. Terezi notice the slight change in posture and gestured to the building.

“Want me to take you on a tour?” she offered.

“No, that will not be necessary, we were just heading-” Equius started, but he was cut off by Nepeta squealing. “Yes yes yes!” she cried out with glee. Terezi grinned and Equius inwardly groaned. Terezi seemed to relish the reactions she got out of the younger girl.

Nepeta looked at Equius questioningly. “So… we’re not going on a tour?” she asked dejectedly. She pouted and waited for Equius to give in.

One…

Two…

“Fine.” Equius muttered, prompting Nepeta to give him a big smile. “But I will not be joining you.”

Aww…

“Why?” Nepeta and Terezi asked at the same time. “Because I must tend to my store.” he reminded them.

“Wait, but don’t you need help?” Nepeta queried worriedly. He shook his head with a wry smile. “What do you think I did before you were there?” Nepeta shrugged, and he went on his way.

Terezi tapped the ground with her cane. “Alright, welcome to Terezi’s Tour of the Office of Legislacerators. I will be your guide, Terezi Pyrope.” she announced. Nepeta giggled again and followed her to the door. She swiped a key card and the doors silently slid open. A burly man sat at a desk and looked up when they walked in.

“Hello, Detective Pyrope. Who’s this?” he greeted with an eye on Nepeta.

“She’s with me.” Terezi told him. He nodded and Terezi swiped her card again to open the elevator doors.

“That was the front desk, where all the panicked souls looking for help ask for our assistance. Right now we’re going to the floor where my desk is.” Terezi continued in a monotone voice. Nepeta tried to contain her excitement and failed miserably. “I hope you’re not expecting too much, because it’s really only that: a desk.” Terezi cautioned. “Still, I’ve never been in a police building before!” Nepeta exclaimed.

The doors slid open again to reveal many people bustling around desks set in partial cubicles. Terezi led her over to a rather to a desk rather colorfully decorated, with the walls of the cubicle filled with mug shots and photos which Nepeta assumed were criminals. Under the photos were notes written in various colors. “You really like colors, huh?” Nepeta commented.

“I can’t help it that they taste so good!” Terezi cried in mock-despair. Nepeta noticed that her desk had a lot of red… maybe it was her favorite color? Er, taste? She also noticed the screen of the computer looked as if someone had licked it a lot.

A little weird, but still kind of cool.

Ok it was pretty weird.

“So, was your case the one with the fire?” Nepeta asked, trying to continue the conversation. Terezi’s expression hardened. “No, that one’s a bit more complicated.” Terezi stated.

“You haven’t figured out who did it?” Nepeta questioned.

She shook her head with a grim smile. “Nah, I know who it is. _Unfortunately_ , I can’t really prove anything since the group responsible is very good at covering its tracks. Also, it’s not like they would actually go to jail for anything; their lawyers are very convincing.”

“Huh.” Nepeta said, not really sure what else she could say. “Do you like being a detective?”

Terezi laughed again and leaned on her desk. “Hell yeah. I wanted to be a lawyer, but then I found out how boring it was. I mean, speaking in court is fun but you never really get out into the field as much. So I became a detective.” she explained. Nepeta nodded. She could see Terezi as a lawyer (but she really didn’t know what lawyers looked like).

A phone on Terezi’s desk rang.

“Yeah?” she answered, then listened to the message on the other side. “Seriously? I’ll be right there.” She hung up and gestured Nepeta to follow. “Come on.” Nepeta obliged, then curiously inquired, “What was the call for?”

“Eh, my secret admirer.”

“What?” Nepeta asked incredulously.

“Yeah, you’re right, he’s not very good at keeping a secret.” Terezi agreed.

Down the elevator… to come face to face with….

A scowling Karkat.

Seriously, who else were you expecting?

“Oh my fucking god.” he groaned, taking note of Nepeta. Terezi frowned. “What is it, Karkles, can’t handle two women at once?”

He buried his face in his hands. “No, it’s just that all these coincidences are getting annoying.”

“What?” Terezi asked, perplexed.

“I saw Karkitt- um, Karkat this morning.” Nepeta told her.

Terezi nodded sagely and turned back to Karkat. “Let’s go.” she commanded.

They stared at her.

“I’m not letting you strut around the building like you own the place just because you’ve known me for a while. So we’re going on a nice walk outside. All three of us.” Terezi clarified.

“But-” Karkat started.

“No buts!”

Nepeta just watched with a small smile playing on her lips.

But as they walked out into the cool air it dawned on her.

Karkat was Terezi’s secret admirer? What!?

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she bounded over to the other two.

\---

The walk was rather pleasant, actually.

Even though Karkat was kind of loud and rude, he seemed to care a lot for his friends. He covered it up with a lot of insults and jabs at the person in question, but Nepeta saw right through his act. There were a few people out on the streets that she had tagged along with that acted similarly. He apparently had run around all day looking in on mostly everyone (he didn’t check on Vriska, Eridan and Gamzee). Terezi claimed that only Kanaya was more intent on knowing everyone’s business, “But at least she does it calmly.”

She skipped as she walked, feeling cheery. At one point Equius called, and it took them a little while to convince him to let her stay with them for a bit (Mostly Terezi, though). Terezi regaled tales of various cases and how she managed to figure them out. In the beginning Karkat would sigh and groan, “Terezi, you’ve told this one a whole fucking hundred times!” As she went on, though, he only made several comments and wore a thoughtful expression.

Nepeta tried to pay attention to Terezi, but found her attention straying to Karkat instead.

“We should head back.” he suggested. They nodded in agreement and turned to come back the way they had come. Nepeta realized with some shock that this was the same area where Equius had picked her up. Maybe she was too focused on the conversation to notice?

They shared small talk but were mostly silent on the way back.

Nepeta noticed that they were slowly heading toward that dreaded alleyway. She hoped that they weren’t planning on using it as a shortcut.

Oh great, they were.

“Guys?” she tried tentatively. They turned to her and she felt self-conscious. “Can we not go this way?”

“Why not?” Terezi probed. A part of her wanted to lie, and not tell the truth. Another part of her just wanted to not go through so much work and just brave the alleyway.

“Never mind.” she practically whispered. They stared at her for a moment, then shrugged.

The walls were filled with graffiti, and she heard a small “hmph!” from Terezi. Nepeta just hugged herself and forced herself to just stare at the end of the alley.

_Come on, Nepeta, you’ll be fine._

She wasn’t doing too badly until Karkat spoke again. “Did you know that these doors actually lead to apartments?” he said, motioning to the doors at the side. “Oh wow, Karkat, I would definitely _not_ know that, me being a detective in a city.” Terezi replied sarcastically. He crossed his arms. “Well, excuse me for trying to start a fucking conversation.” he scoffed. “Sure. Did _you_ know that there used to be quite a violent gang that used this place as a second headquarters?” she told him.

_Yeah, yeah I know._ Nepeta thought to herself.

“Hey Nepeta, you’ve been in this area, right?” Terezi asked.

“Yes.” Nepeta answered bluntly.

“Did you know anyone that lived here?” Karkat asked. Why was he so interested in this place? What’s his deal!?

She didn’t say anything, trying to decide how she should answer.

“Nepeta?” Terezi asked. “You there?”

She snapped.

“Oh my god, _I_ used to live here!” she practically yelled. She balled her fists. “That’s why I hate this place. I know all about that stupid gang, all about people who lived behind those doors.” she snapped.

They didn’t reply, as if waiting for her to continue.

“That gang is the fucking reason why I got on the streets!” she shrieked, her voice cracking at the end.

“Nepeta, we can go back-” Karkat started, but she shook her head. “No, we’re already here. Might as well get the job done.” she said.

They kept going, but faster this time. They passed a certain, familiar door and Nepeta couldn’t help but stop. She tried the door; it was open. That’s right, she never locked it when she left. She wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

The little apartment was the same as she had left it, except with lots of cobwebs and dust. And maybe a few mice. She moved through the room quietly, not touching anything. There were only two rooms; her family had shared a room together. There was a little kitchen in the living room. She braced herself ad entered the second room.

She felt like crying, but at the same time, she really didn’t. She was looking for something specific.

She found it on the little table next to the bed: her mother’s sketchbook.

Her mother had been an amazing artist. They were never able to afford anything other than cheap pencils or paintbrushes, but she had never needed anything fancy. She made beautiful pictures nonetheless. Nepeta blew off the dust and opened it carefully. She felt Karkat’s and Terezi’s stares (If you say that she was staring) on her as she traced the sketches on the first page.

Flip,

Flip,

She found her favorite painting: the one of her family. There was no way that they could ever get a camera, so her mother decided to take another route.

“This is my mother’s sketchbook.” she said. She could tell they were a bit startled by the break in silence. “She was an amazing artist, and would draw pictures while our dad would tell stories. Heh… my father was a very kind man. Even though we didn’t have much, he would always try to help out the people on the streets who had even less than us. He taught us how to read, and my mother told me that he dreamed of giving speeches about the state of Alternia.”

She paused, looked at their painted faces. “When the gang came over here, our parents told us that it would be okay. One day my dad tried to negotiate with the gang. He left home and didn’t come back for a long time. I remember how Mom would always look up at the smallest sound, thinking that it was him coming back.”

“I remember…” it was interesting how good it felt to be sharing her story.

She just really never had anyone to tell it to.

“I remember when those people knocked on our door. I don’t know how they knew that we lived here, but they did. They came and gave something to our mom. When she saw it she started to cry; it was our father’s clothes, soaked in blood. She snapped and started to fight them. My brother and I hid in the bedroom and covered our ears. There was a blood on the floor of the living room, but they had taken the body somewhere else, for some reason. Pounce, that’s my little brother’s nickname, he didn’t want to go anywhere near the blood. So I had to clean it up. Later, we left our home to live on the streets.”

She took the sketchbook and left the room with the other two trailing behind. She grabbed the key in the living room and made sure to lock the door when they exited the apartment. “What happened to your brother?” Karkat pried. “Wait, no, it’s okay, you don’t have to say anything!” he added hurriedly. She laughed a little.

“As we got older we went our separate ways. I’m pretty sure he’s still alive. Maybe now, I can go look for him.” she said, feeling some confidence return. “I’ll be glad to help if you need me.” Terezi pledged. Nepeta smiled and nodded. “Thanks!”

As they neared Equius’s (and Nepeta’s!) home, Terezi’s phone started ringing. She answered it and frowned as she listened to the other side.

“Sorry guys, but duty calls. It was great walking with you guys, though!” Terezi apologized as she hung up. Waving, she started to jog off in the direction of the police building.

“How does she _do_ that?” Nepeta asked in wonder. Karkat looked at her. “What, run around like she can see? It’s not like blind people have to shuffle around touching everything and everyone to get anywhere.” he grumbled in response. “No, well, yes, but can she really taste and smell colors?” Nepeta continued. He shrugged.

“There’s three possible answers to that: Yes, no, or she’s completely nuts.” he replied. “I still haven’t figured out the truth.” Nepeta nodded and they approached the door.

“She wasn’t always blind.” Karkat said suddenly. She looked at him and he looked like he was regretting bringing up that subject. “But that story is for another day. Actually, make it never. She’ll tell you if she feels like it.” He glanced at the door with a mixture of nervousness and disgust. “Alright, you’re back. I’m just going to take off now before Equius decides he’s not done beating the shit out of me.” He started to walk off. “Wait, what?” Nepeta cried. “I didn’t say anything!” he yelled.

She knocked on the door and waited a moment. The door opened and she beamed up at Equius.

“Did you have a good time?” he asked her as she bounded inside.

“You can say that.” Nepeta answered, hugging the sketchbook to her chest.


	9. 10x SHOWDOWN COMBO… wait, not yet.

Eridan yawned, reclining on his couch with a warm cup of coffee held firmly in his left hand. It felt like it had been forever since he had time to himself. Finally, he could _relax_ for a while.

And then his phone rang.

Frowning, he made his way to the phone, setting his coffee on the table and grumbling under his breath.

Oh god. Not this guy. What does he want now?! He hoped it wasn’t about Equius. He’d rather put yesterday’s disaster along with the other disasters in the depths of his memory.

Wincing slightly, he answered the phone, holding it at an arm’s length like some sort of repulsive object. Clearly it was set on speaker.

“Hey, motherfucker.” The voice of Gamzee crackled through the phone. “I’ve got something interesting planned for today.”

Eridan bit back a retort that probably would have insulted Gamzee’s intelligence and decided to just listen. He realized Gamzee was waiting for some sort of response.

“W-well, w-what is it?” he asked, his accent accentuating his words as usual. Gamzee chuckled and Eridan shivered.

_Just get on w-with it already._

“One of us didn’t show up yesterday.” Gamzee started,

Yeah it was about Equius.

“THAT MOTHERFUCKING TRAITOR EQUIUS.” Gamzee roared, nearly causing Eridan to drop his phone. He really hated it when that guy did that weird voice fluctuating thing.

“Heh. Before, when the others would leave, we didn’t do anything.” Gamzee continued.

“W-well, actually-”

“Shut up. Sure, the spiderbitch did her thing to a few of them, whatever. But nothing was ever motherfucking official. All sneaky-like. We’ve got to face them head on.”

Eridan sank down onto his couch again. He didn’t like where this conversation was going.

“Besides, I have to make sure the rest of you motherfuckers aren’t planning to leave too. I never heard of you going out to teach the others a lesson.” Gamzee accused.

_Yeah, neither did Equius._ Equius had been different, though. He was fiercely loyal and had practically followed Gamzee like a dog. Maybe it was some code of honor, maybe it was his new best friend (the girl who looked like a cat), but either way, he was pretty sure no one was expecting him to quit.

Ok, enough random thought processes, gotta deal with Gamzee here.

“That’s not true, I dueled Sol.” He shot back, feeling slightly offended.

“We all know how that went, Eridan.” Gamzee growled.

“Yeah, w-well-”

“You didn’t even do anything when Feferi left.” Gamzee said. Eridan was so sure that the demented clown was just grinning smugly.

“You’re gettin’ off topic.” Eridan replied, changing the subject.

“Right. Point is, get over to our main motherfucking place. And I mean right now.” Gamzee commanded.

“W-whatev-ver.”

“ERIDAN?”

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’!” Eridan yelled at the phone. He hung up and facepalmed.

There goes relaxation. Something _always_ had to come up. He retrieved his cape and threw it over his shoulders. It didn’t matter if the weather was hot enough to set the city on fire; he’d wear his cape and scarf even if the whole damn world was going to hell. In some circumstances he might ditch the cape, but seriously that was pretty much his signature look. No need to ruin it anytime soon. Pushing up his glasses, he threw the door open and braced himself for the worst.

\---

“He’th heading for their headquarterth jutht like you thaid.” Sollux commented, his eyes glued to the laptop screen.

“Was it really necessary to tap into Eridan’s phone?” Kanaya asked. Terezi gave her a look. “We’ve been tracking and tapping into Eridan’s phone for ages, as well as bugging his stupid cape.” she replied. “And yes, it’s completely necessary.”

“Equius finally quit, huh?” Feferi inquired. Terezi and Karkat nodded. “See, when Nepeta got back home, Equius was there, and the gang was supposed to be out last night. Obviously, the asshole had decided for whatever reason that it was time for him to go. And of course, that phone call clearly pointed that out.” Karkat explained. He was standing up and pacing back and forth in the room.

“Obviouthly.” Sollux retorted, rolling his eyes over his glasses.

“Yeah, obviously, idiot. There were so many other obvious hints, but I guess I’m the only one that can actually notice them.” Karkat snapped.

There was a collective sigh in the room. “Stop arguing, you two.” Kanaya commanded.

“We’re not arguing.” They both protested.

“Uh, sorry to, um, interrupt, but what exactly are we going to do?” Tavros questioned timidly.

“We’re just going to see what they’re up to!” Aradia explained.

“Yeah… but things _might_ get ugly.” Terezi warned. “It’s been a while since anyone quit, and Gamzee seems to be pretty pissed off. He’s fucking unstable, who knows what he’s planning.” Karkat added.

“I’m not fighting.” Aradia deadpanned. “I’m done with that.”

“That’th okay, AA, you do what you want.” Sollux replied before Karkat could say anything.

Tavros looked like he wanted to say something, but stayed silent. A few members of the group gave him questioning glances but said nothing as well.

“Guyth, he’th reached the plathe. Thut up and lithen.” Sollux lisped. Karkat groaned and Terezi slapped a hand over his mouth.

“What the fuck are you doing? They can’t hear you. Besides, you don’t have the authority to-” Karkat angrily whispered, getting cut off by Terezi clamping her hand over his mouth again.

Sollux turned a knob so they could all hear the conversation.

“Hey, motherfucker.” Gamzee’s voice filled the room. Karkat noticed that many of them looked tense and nervous, angry even. Not that he didn’t feel the same way. Gamzee always brought up mixed feelings.

“W-well? W-what is your brilliant plan?” Eridan asked.

Sollux might have thought that nobody had noticed, but Karkat saw the guy stiffen slightly and clench the armrest a little tighter. Feferi’s mouth was set in a hard, straight line.

He wondered for the millionth time how they even managed to have those meetings without any casualties.

“We’re still waiting on Vriska.” Gamzee replied.

“You can’t get a visual, right?” Terezi asked. Karkat would have laughed if everything wasn’t so serious. Like Terezi needed a visual. He was pretty sure that nobody in the room would be too happy about seeing the scene. What’s the point?

Sollux gave Terezi a disbelieving glance and gave a brief shake of his head. Terezi chuckled a little and leaned on her cane.

Eridan and Gamzee weren’t saying anything. Well, Eridan did try to spark a conversation, but Gamzee didn’t cooperate.

“Hey boys, I hope you didn’t wait _too_ long for me.” The smug voice of Vriska broke in.

Karkat watched the reactions carefully. Terezi was gripping her cane rather tightly, Kanaya was wearing a blank expression, and Tavros looked like he’d seen a ghost. Aradia seemed perfectly calm while Sollux was frowning.

Weren’t they the cheeriest of groups?

“We waited longer than we should have.” Gamzee snapped. Karkat found some enjoyment in hearing the almost concealed uncertainness in Vriska’s voice as she continued, “Well, so _rry_. Are you going to spill the beans about your plan or what?”

“It’s about Equius.” Gamzee said.

There was a bit of a silence.

“Get on with it already.” Karkat growled.

Some people glared at him but he ignored them.

“Just get on wwith it already.” Eridan said impatiently. Karkat frowned and crossed his arms.

“IT’S MOTHERFUCKING DISGRACEFUL how those other cowards quit before.” Gamzee continued.

_Seriously, Gamzee? Calling us cowards? I’ll fucking show you cowards._ Karkat inwardly fumed.

“And we never motherfucking did anything.” Gamzee said.

“Hey, that’s… not entirely true!” Tavros squeaked. They shooshed him and Kanaya gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

“I already told Eridan this. We gotta be a bit more direct this time, show them no mercy. What kind of friends are _they_ … WHAT KIND OF MOTHERFUCKING friends… are they, if they left us in the dust?!” Gamzee exclaimed. Karkat shivered. The entire voice fluctuating thing just added to the demented image of the man.

“W-well…”

“Aaaaaaaand your point is?” Vriska prompted. They all knew that she completely understood what Gamzee was planning.

“We go to the traitor’s house and beat the motherfucking shit out of him.” Gamzee deadpanned.

“W-what?! But w-what about Nep? I mean, Nepeta?” Eridan spluttered.

Was that actually concern Karkat heard in his voice?

Eridan’s personality had always been hard to pinpoint.

“Are you motherfucking questioning my logic?” Gamzee hissed.

_Oh my god stop saying motherfuck._ Talk about overusing an adjective.

“W-well, no, but-”

“I don’t know about you, Eridan, but I’m game.” Vriska commented.

_Of course you’re “game,” Vriska, you don’t give a shit about anyone._ But Karkat also noticed the thoughtful expression on Kanaya’s face. He glanced at Terezi, who was wearing a blank façade.

“Fine. But only Equius.” Eridan grumbled. “No point in getting Nep involved.”

Gamzee roared with laughter, and everyone in the room winced. “Sure, motherfucker, you do what you want. But it’s obvious that “Nep” is the reason why the traitor left. So she’s already involved.”

Then his mood seemed to rapidly decline. “Alright, enough talking. Let’s go.” he spat.

Sollux turned off the volume, and everyone started talking at once.

“We have to do something-”

“Oh no, Nepeta-”

“Why do these things always happen-”

“Why do we have to-”

“Order!” That was Terezi, trying to get everyone to stop talking.

“What are we going to-”

“EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP.” Karkat yelled, standing on a table so he could look over them all..

The room went silent.

“This is your leader speaking.” He snapped. “And as your leader, I say that you _raise your hand_ if you have an idea that isn’t completely shitty.”

Sollux raised his hand.

“What?”

“I thay we do nothing.”

“Sollux, that’s not fucking funny. No.”

Kanaya raised her hand next.

“I suppose that we should go and attempt to intercept the three.” she suggested.

“No fucking duh.”

Terezi spoke up, not bothering to raise her hand. “Yeah, well, we’re going to have to plan this on the way there, because otherwise we’ll run out of time.”

Karkat reluctantly agreed. “Tavros, get your van.”

“So, uh, I’m driving?” he asked.

“No, sorry buddy, but you drive too slow. _I’ll_ drive.” Terezi told him.

Karkat gaped at her. “Terezi, you’re fucking blind. No thanks.”

“How about I drive and all of you thut up.” Sollux snapped, getting out of his chair.

He hesitated when he turned to Aradia, but the woman nodded in agreement.

“Then it’s settled.” Karkat announced, hopping off the table.

“Let’s go.”


	10. 10x SHOWDOWN COMBO!!!!!!!!

“W-why can’t we just drive there?” Eridan complained.

“W-why do you w-whine so much?” Vriska asked him, mimicking his accent. He scowled at her in return. “I fuckin’ hate workin’ with you sometimes, V-vris.” She laughed. “Only sometimes?” she jeered.

“Shut up.” Gamzee growled. They fell silent.

“We’re almost there. Do me a favor and _don’t_ spend an hour trying to draw out your gun, Eridan.” He mocked. Eridan clenched his fists.

“Oh my god, I _nev-ver_ did that in my life!” he objected. “Then don’t make this your first time.” Gamzee told him, leaving the Eridan to silently fume to himself.

“Hey, here’s an idea!” Vriska exclaimed suddenly. “Eridan, you’re an accomplished sniper. Why don’t you just stick one bullet in the guy’s head and make things soooooooo much easier?”

Eridan glared at her. The bitch _knew_ that he felt uncomfortable about the entire ordeal. Sollux was one thing, and even then he was pretty pissed when he challenged him to a duel. Killing strangers was one thing; killing former members was another (he was reluctant to use the word friends). He had only promised to “beat up” Equius, not directly cause his death.

“Naw, that would just ruin the motherfucking fun.” Gamzee cackled. For once Eridan appreciated Gamzee’s madness.

If only just a little bit.

He saw the glint of metal and glanced at Vriska. She was slowly pulling out one of her knives. She had eight of them concealed in various places. He was about to question her when she gave a brisk shake of her head.

“We’ve got company.” She hissed.

\---

“They know we are here.” Kanaya whispered.

They were grouped behind a wall, watching the three.

“Well then, let’s get out there and show ourselves.” Terezi whispered with a grin spreading across her face. “Wait, don’t-!” Karkat whispered urgently. Terezi ignore him and leapt out of their hiding place.

“Hey, Vriska!” the redhead called, using her cane for “guidance” on the sidewalk. “Is that you? I can’t tell.”

Vriska frowned. “Terezi, don’t sell me that crap. We all know that you have some freaky seeing powers even if you’re blind.”

Terezi laughed. “You know, I never got around to thanking you. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have those ‘freaky seeing powers’.”

Vriska slipped into a fighting stance. “Shut up. I know you hate being blind, admit it!” she seethed.

Eridan and Gamzee stood aside as the two women started to circle each other. Karkat couldn’t help but get a little nervous whenever Terezi and Vriska faced each other. They had been an incredibly dangerous duo working together… and were even worse as rivals. Vriska took it a lot more seriously than Terezi, though.

“Nope. It’s been great!” Terezi replied, grinning. Vriska yelled and lunged, and Terezi swiftly jumped out of the way, unsheathing her hidden blade in her cane.

“Before you two get in a motherfucking cat fight, we should let the others join in on the fun. Wouldn’t want them to feel motherfucking left out.” Gamzee drawled.

Karkat scowled and slipped out from behind the wall, but not before signaling the rest of them to move.

“Thanks for the fucking invitation, I’ll thank you once we’re done handing your ass to you.” Karkat stated grimly.

A grin spread across Gamzee’s face. “Hey, motherfucking best friend.” he said in a friendly tone.

Only Gamzee was able to make a “friendly” tone sound absolutely creepy.

“So here’s how this is going to work. You guys turn back, or we deal with you.” Karkat threatened. It was a good sounding threat until Vriska pouted dramatically. “Oh yes, now I’m _scared._ We’ll just avoid any conflict and slowly walk away… we don’t want to fight our friends!” she exclaimed in mock defeat.

Karkat (and probably Terezi as well) was about to reply with a witty retort when Kanaya spoke. “No, Vriska, I am pretty sure you do not.” she said smoothly, coming out of the shadows.

Vriska stiffened as Kanaya approached with a dagger in each hand. She seemed to recover quite quickly, since she was able to retort, “Oh, hey there, Kanaya. Is the chainsaw not ‘elegant’ enough?”

Kanaya’s expression barely changed as she replied coolly, “No, I _do_ prefer my chainsaw. But if I was wielding it now, you wouldn’t have much of a chance.”

Eridan seemed to have noticed something because he finally decided to speak.

“Hey, guys, I know-w you’d like to chat w-with these three but I’m pretty sure w-we’re-” he started.

“Thurrounded.” Sollux finished smugly, jumping out of his hiding place.

“W-what the flippin’ fuck, Sol? W-what if I w-was goin’ to say somethin’ else, then your stupid entrance w-would flop on its face.” Eridan spluttered, drawing his gun as the others made their presence clear.

“Oh, this is just great.” Vriska hissed. “Tavros, I didn’t think you’d have the guts.”

Tavros gulped and struggled to remain calm. “I can’t let you hurt anybody.”

Vriska smirked. “Oh, _congratulations_ , you finally said a sentence that didn’t have ‘uh’ or ‘um’ in it. I am so proud.” She slowly clapped her hands for emphasis until she noticed the blade that was a bit too close to her neck.

“You’re in no position to be talking like that.” Terezi cackled. “I wouldn’t turn my head if I were you.”

Vriska sighed and dropped her arms. “Oh well. Guess you got me again.” Terezi wrinkled her nose. “Vriska, what are you-“

“Ha!” Vriska yelled in triumph as she knocked the blade out of Terezi’s hands with a well-timed kick. The blade clattered to the ground out of Terezi’s reach. She frowned and automatically went to retrieve it. Vriska intercepted her, dagger in hand. “Sorry, Terezi, but you won’t be getting that back.” Vriska taunted. Moments later a heavy boot went straight into Vriska’s side, toppling her over. Tavros landed with a sheepish look on his face. “I guess it’s nice to be able to kick again.” he said. Terezi hopped over a groaning Vriska with a grin. “I think you kick better than before, what with those robo-legs and boots.”

 

“It’s been a long w-while since our duel.” Eridan growled. Sollux laughed. “You mean the one where you got your ath handed to you?” Eridan clenched his fists. “W-well this time, _I’m_ goin’ to be the one handin’ _your_ ass to you.” he seethed. Sollux shrugged. “Whatever you thay.” He removed his colorful lenses and shoved them in his pocket.

There was something in his other hand…

“Think fatht!” Sollux yelled, hurling a throwing star and Eridan. He swerved out of the way as it zipped past.

_Okay maybe I should ditch the cape for now-w._

He unfastened the cape and threw it to the side (in a spot that he hoped would be avoided) and glared at Sollux. His opponent’s respective blue and brown eyes locked with his own.

Sollux threw another star, and Eridan dodged once more before he pressed the trigger on his gun. He either missed or Sollux dodged because the blonde was unscathed.

They continued in that vein, shooting and throwing and dodging.

Eridan knew that he wasn’t doing his best; Eridan Ampora was not the type of guy whose bullet you dodged. He set his jaw and aimed.

_1…_

_2…_

_3!_

He pressed the trigger and the bullet flew true.

Sollux yelled in both surprise in pain as the missile embedded itself in his arm. With nary a thought he threw another throwing star with his good arm, which pinned Eridan to the ground by his scarf.

Eridan was trying to unpin himself to no avail when he saw Feferi towering over him.

_Oh god._

She yelled and prepared to drive her bo staff into his skull (probably), but he managed to leap off the ground and dodge.

Of course, he ripped his scarf in the process.

Reluctantly, he faced off with the love of his life.

 

For Karkat, the fight was a whirl of ducking under Gamzee’s insane juggling clubs (Seriously, who uses _juggling clubs_ as weapons? This guy, apparently) and lashing out with his own sickle.

Anyone who said that using a sickle was dumb was fucking stupid.

Gamzee was clearly playing with him, though. The guy could have already beaten him to a pulp, but here he was, still standing.

He heard Sollux yell and made the mistake of turning to see what happened.

“Karkat, watch out!”

Even if he had watched out it didn’t matter because Kanaya pushed him out of the way anyway.

So now there were two of them facing the deranged clown. He twirled the clubs in his hand with a demented grin. “Two on one? Now that’s just motherfucking unfair.” he growled.

They advanced, making him take steps back. “Yeah well, nothing was ever fair with you.” Karkat spat.

He heard Feferi yell and Eridan yelp, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw Vriska battling Terezi and Tavros. He had no idea what Aradia was doing but it really wasn’t his problem.

Right now he just needed to focus on this fight.

\---

Eridan, Vriska, and Gamzee stood back to back, fully surrounded by the other seven. Except for Aradia, all of them were bruised or bloody or disheveled. The opposing trio didn’t seem to fare any better, though Gamzee clearly didn’t care for his current condition.

“Sollux, are you okay?” Aradia asked, concerned.

“No, I got thot in the arm and feel no pain at all.” he snapped.

She gave him a look, and he sighed.

“Okay, fine: I’ll live. Thank you tho much for athking. How about we get back to the thubject at hand now?”

“I can’t believe you guys wasted so much energy on _Equius_.” Vriska said. “Seriously, what’s your deal?”

“He might be a complete asshole, but he left your group. You know, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend?’” Karkat pointed out.

Eridan mumbled something about strategy and tactics but everyone ignore him.

Instead, their attention was on an especially furious Gamzee.

“So you motherfuckers managed to beat us in a fight. Whatever. Six against three, huh? It takes you that much to lay the hurt on us.” he began with the calmness of one about to snap.

“Seven traitors, protecting another. Ain’t that just motherfucking sweet?” he growled. They tensed, gripping their respective weapons.

“It’s all your fault.” Gamzee hissed in Karkat’s face.

“If it wasn’t for you, we’d still be ruling the streets.”

“WE ALMOST HAD THE MOTHERFUCKING CITY under our control.”

“But for some reason, FOR SOME MOTHERFUCKING REASON, you thought it wasn’t good enough.”

Karkat glared at him. “Seriously?! That’s why you think I left?!” he yelled.

“Shut up. If it wasn’t for you, the other wouldn’t have left. Dripping lies, MOTHERFUCKING LIES, into their ears.” Gamzee snarled.

“We’ll go for now. But believe me, we’ll be back.” Gamzee finished, signaling the other two. Vriska sighed and Eridan made no reply. The group surrounding them parted to let them through. Karkat moved to the front to watch them leave.

He turned to address the rest of the group, but froze when he heard a roar from behind. He had the split-second to see the stricken expressions on his friends’ faces when he heard a loud crack accompanied with pain blooming in the back of his head.

After that, his vision went hazy and he crumpled to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A cliffhanger? Nah, I'm sure you can handle it.  
> Here's the deal about updates:  
> I'm planning on posting two chapters at the end of each week, meaning they'll be up on Saturday or Sunday.  
> This is, of course, if everything goes to plan.  
> I'm expecting that it won't, so bear with me if the update schedule gets a bit wonky at times.  
> Either way: Thank you all for reading (and possibly continue to read) my story.


	11. Problems Twofold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And of course, just as I set up an update schedule, I find myself in the midst of a completely hectic week. So unfortunately, I can only offer you one chapter today, and a chapter that is still just a tad short. But either way, I hope you enjoy, as usual!  
> Also I'm overjoyed to see that I've gotten 100+ hits!  
> ... Is that something someone's allowed to be overjoyed about?

_Karkat angrily stomped back home. Okay, he didn’t actually have a home, but the orphanage was technically supposed to be one. Yes, because clearly he was living with a nice and happy family in a house of their own with no troubles at all._

_Yeah no._

_He hated the orphanage because of a lot of reasons. The food was excusable because of his situation, but nobody seemed to like him there. Whatever, he didn’t like them either. The lady who ran the damn place (whose name he never bothered to memorize) acted like everything was filled with rainbows and glittering unicorns. What a load of crap._

_“Don’t worry, Karkat, I’m sure that someone will adopt you!” she’d say, the fakest smile plastered on her face. Like he wanted to be adopted by some random people; he was fine with his parents, thank you very much._

_“Oh, Karkat.” she’d say, shaking her head in pretend sympathy for the poor boy that couldn’t understand his situation. Yeah, he had no parents, he knew that already. Why else would he be stuck in a fucking orphanage?_

_He was often scolded for his language, but really, who gives a shit?_

_The only relief he got from that hell was in the afternoon, when he snuck out to just walk around the city and do some odd jobs. That, and the weird kid hiding out near the orphanage._

_Karkat had met Sollux when he was trying to slip out the back door since the front door was too risky that day._

_And there he was, the kid with the different colored eyes tapping away at a battered laptop beside a pile of crates._

_“Who the fuck are you?” Karkat asked._

_The kid didn’t even look up as he replied, “Thollux Captor.”_

_“Thollux?”_

_“No, Thollux.”_

_“That’s what I just fucking said.”_

_“No!” Thollux (?) finally looked up from his laptop to give Karkat a glare. “I have a lithp.”_

_“Oh, so it’s Sollux.” Karkat said, understanding. “I’m Karkat. Karkat Vantas.”_

_Sollux nodded and went back to his computer._

_“What are you doing here?” Karkat probed._

_“Coding.” Sollux replied._

_Karkat glanced at the boy’s screen to see what looked like another language. He knew a little bit about coding (“little” was a gross understatement). For all his expertise (not), though, he couldn’t make heads or tails of what the kid was typing._

_“No, I meant what are you doing_ here _, as in outside the orphanage?” Karkat clarified, getting a bit frustrated._

_“I don’t know, I jutht hang around here. Got nowhere elthe to go.” Sollux answered, shrugging a little._

_“Why don’t you go to the orphanage?”_

_“Why would I want to go there? I’m not planning on getting adopted.” he said, glancing at Karkat._

_Karkat looked at him for a bit, then sat down next to the boy. “Yeah, the place sucks anyway.” he admitted._

_They sat in relative silence, with the tapping of Sollux’s keyboard and the occasional bird interrupting the quiet._

_“Hey Sollux.” Karkat suddenly blurted. “Do you… do you want to be friends?”_

_Sollux turned his head to directly face Karkat._

_“Thure.”_

\---

“How much does this cost?” A voice interrupted his thoughts. He glanced at the source; a woman clutching a game that was probably meant to be a gift or something.

“That’th thirty dollarth and ninety-nine thenths.” he answered. The woman nodded and took out a credit card. He absentmindedly entered the game on the cash register and watched the woman swipe her card. When she hurried off, he leaned back and sighed.

_Dammit, KK._

He considered calling Aradia again, or maybe even Feferi, but decided against it. He needed to focus right now, and not get caught up in memories that only made him feel worse. And customers don’t want a depressed store owner to deal with.

He saw a kid panic as one of the demo consoles seized up and stopped working. Sollux motioned to an employee to take over as the cashier as he went to fix the problem.

“Sorry.” the kid mumbled.

“It’th fine. People play on thethe thingth all day, and you jutht happened to be the unfortunate guy who had to deal with the conthequentheth. Here, it’th fixed. Have fun, thith ith a pretty good game.”

The kid nodded eagerly and went back to playing.

Sollux decided to not go back to the cash register and instead wandered around the stores, giving help when needed.

Obviously, people looked curiously at the bandages wrapped around his arm, and some people actually asked what happened. He just waved them off with “jutht an acthident” and changed the subject. His arm still hurt like the dickens, but luckily the bullet hadn’t done any damage to his bone. Things would have been a little more complicated.

They had taken him to the hospital with a story that was basically him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Karkat was the most urgent case to deal with, though, so they didn’t ask too many questions.

Sollux was going to dwell on past memories again when his phone rang. He briskly walked over to the cash register where his employee dutifully passed him his phone. He glanced down to see the caller, and…

Oh, _great._ Of course it’s this guy.

He reluctantly answered the phone.

“Equiuth, what do you-” he started, but was cut off by a voice that was a _lot_ less gruff than Equius’s.

“No, it’s Nepeta! I’m using Equius’s phone.”

“Oh… hey, Nepeta.” He didn’t feel like acting pissed at her, especially because she probably had no idea of how much trouble the eleven of them had gotten into.

“I was just wondering… are you guys going to do the meeting thing again? I asked Equius and he had no idea.”

Sollux sighed. “I’ll thee if people can come today.” he told her. Usually Karkat planned the meetings, and had this entire schedule. Without him, Sollux supposed it fell to him. Terezi was sort of the second-in-command, but she always had her hands full with detective work.

“I hope I didn’t mess anything up for you!” Nepeta added hurriedly. If Sollux didn’t feel like shit he’d probably burst out laughing at her comment.

“No, it’th okay. Thee you later, I gueth.” he said.

“Okay!”

He hung up and sighed again, leaning against a shelf. It’s not like the meeting would actually accomplish anything what with Nepeta hanging around. Maybe she and Equius would leave early, maybe then they could talk about important things.

_I hope those three don’t find a way to show up too._

Life really didn’t need to be so complicated for a videogame storeowner.


	12. From the Shadows Do I Question

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I humbly offer you two more chapters...  
> Enjoy!  
> (Thanks for all your kudos and hits/views!!)

Nepeta was practically skipping to the store.

“It’s been such a long time since we’ve seen them!” she sang. Equius sighed and put his hand on her shoulder to keep her from bouncing. “It has been a week, Nepeta. And you only met them last week, too.” he reminded her. She paused for a moment. “Huh!” she exclaimed. “Whatever! I’m just so excited to talk to all of them together again.” She turned and started walking backwards. “How come you’re not excited?” she inquired. “I might’ve met them last week, but you’ve known them for longer!”

Equius adjusted his glasses and shrugged. “Nepeta, stop walking backwards. You could get hurt like that.” he commanded. She pouted and turned around again. She stole a glance at Equius, who had that look which meant he was busy worrying about something.

“Equius?”

“What?”

“What are you thinking about?”

“Er, nothing.” he stammered. Nepeta grabbed his arm and stared at him. He sighed again. “Usually Karkat sends a text message informing us of the meeting. The fact that you had to call Sollux is a bit odd; I was wondering if…” he trailed off at the end. “If everything was okay?” Nepeta finished uncertainly. He shrugged again.

They walked in silence for a little while, Nepeta still holding his arm. At one point she started swinging their arms back and forth, and the incredulous look on Equius’s face just made her burst out in laughter.

They reached the videogame store, Nepeta still giggling a little. She threw open the doors and Equius caught them just before they rebounded into his face. “Nepeta…” he called.

It was almost like she was a little kid about to go on a play date.

She paused to let him catch up, fidgeting a little.

Together they traveled to the back of the store.

“Nepeta! Hi!” Feferi practically screamed. Sollux winced. “FF, I think I’m now deaf in my left ear.” he told her. Equius scanned the area.

Sollux was obviously present, as well as Feferi. Aradia… was also there, and also Tavros.

Neither Terezi nor Kanaya were present. But what attracted the most attention was the absence of Karkat.

He had never missed a meeting, especially nowadays when he was the one who set them up. Equius felt like asking about him, but it was not his place. His place was in the shadows, waiting for the subject to come up.

It came up rather quickly. “Is Karkat not coming? Or Kanaya? Terezi’s busy with a case again, right?” Nepeta asked, firing three inquiries at once.

“No, no, and maybe.” Aradia answered. Nepeta slid into a seat. “Oh. Is everything okay?” she asked.

What was the point of waiting in the shadows if Nepeta simply brought up everything that was relevant? “…Yeah. Everything’th fine.” Sollux assured her. Uncertainty laced his words. Equius noticed his bandage-wrapped arm.

“Karkat got ill, so he couldn’t come.” Aradia exclaimed. Feferi nodded furiously. “And since Kanaya’s fussing over him because that’s just the way she is.” Feferi added.

Nepeta nodded, seemingly accepting their explanations.

Equius watched Tavros. The young man was nearly trembling from (probably) nervousness. Tavros was terrible at keeping secrets for too long. It did not take too much work to get him to blurt the truth.

He seemed to calm down a little when Nepeta asked him about his volunteer work at the animal shelter, dolefully admitting to his unfortunate cat allergies.

“They’re so cute, but I, uh, can’t go near them. It’s really too bad.” he told Nepeta.

“Aww, that’s no fair! Cats are amazing.” Nepeta said. “Y’know, I learned how to fight on the streets from watching cats. You can learn a lot by watching animals!”

Tavros nodded, smiling. “That’s, um, so true! It’s always great to meet people who, uh, love animals as much as I do.” he replied.

“Hey! I like animals!” Feferi protested.

“You only like animalth that live in water.” Sollux reminded her. “Still!”

Equius wanted to sigh out loud, but did not. Most of the time, the meetings were mostly comprised of small talk, but the conversations did provide interesting information about the goings of people’s lives. He was often frustrated, though, when important information was withheld and avoided through meaningless conversations. Before, it made sense, since he was technically the enemy. Nepeta’s presence was a bit of a drawback in this situation because no one could say anything without revealing their secret to her.

So he was forced to listen to Feferi, Tavros, and Nepeta argue about the “best” animals when clearly something had occurred behind the scenes.

“Oh, Sollux, I was meaning to ask: What happened to your arm?” Nepeta asked.

The logical course for him would have been to ask the question himself, but Nepeta was innocent and made the question seem harmless.

(It would be harmless if he was not there eavesdropping on every word.)

“My arm? Oh, jutht… an acthident.” Sollux told her.

What was he expecting? The truth?

“…What kind of accident?” Nepeta probed.

Hopefully, “curiosity killed the cat” was not relevant to this situation.

“I was jutht walking in the thtreet and a guy tried to thtab me and cut my arm.” Sollux blabbered.

Nepeta shook her head. “You should be more careful!! You’re lucky that you didn’t get killed!”

If Equius was the type of person that flipped tables, he would have probably flipped one right there and then.

The thought occurred to him that perhaps everything they were saying was true, and he was overthinking.

Most of the people in front of him, though, were terrible liars. Feferi could lie her way through things sometimes, but Sollux could not lie to your face without showing some signs of discomfort. And there he was, gripping the counter like a lifeline. In a way, it was a good thing that Terezi was not there. With her talking, the only person that might tell the difference between her lies and truths was Vriska. And that was only sometimes.

The conversation moved to other topics and Equius was driven to surrender any hopes of figuring out what was really going on.

_\---_

_He pushed the man away and grabbed his wallet. “If I were you, I would not steal from me.” Equius snarled, driving his fist into the man’s stomach. Winded, the man doubled over as Equius briskly walked away._

_Perspiring, he tucked his wallet safely into his pocket once more. He supposed it was not as safe as he had originally presumed, but it was the best he could do._

_“Wow, you don’t fight too bad… for a rich motherfucker.”_

_He looked around to locate the source of the voice and found nothing._

_He mopped his forehead with a handkerchief and hurried on home._

_And what, he wondered, would he do with those skills? Of course, he could fend off assailants like the pickpocket he had just encountered, but besides that, they were useless. After all, he was “rich.” Everything he was good at seemed only useful for criminals or middle class workers. He thought that he could be useful in a police force or something of the sort, but he did not really feel like being a policeman._

_There had to be a place for him. There was always a place for someone._

_Always a…_

“Equius?”

He snapped out of his flashback. “Yes, Nepeta?”

“You said we had to go soon, and then you kinda zoned out.” Nepeta retold.

The others were looking at him thoughtfully.

“Yes.” he told her gruffly. “We will be going now.”

There was something he still had to do, though.

“Nepeta, can you wait for me outside a moment?” he asked with a gentler tone. “I need to do something quickly.”

She shrugged and waved goodbye to the rest of them. They waved in response and she bounded off.

“Equius?” Aradia prompted. She turned in her seat a little, her lustrous hair swishing slightly behind her shoulders, her-

No he was not zoning out again to stare at Aradia no.

He took a deep breath and faced them all.

“What actually happened to Karkat?”


	13. Welcome Back… to Our Messed Up Lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow my chapter titles only get longer

_“Hey, motherfucking best friend.”_

_Running, running._

_“Best frieeeend.”_

_Blood, everywhere._

_“Stay still!”_

_Hiding, in vain._

_“HONK. Honk.”_

_Laughter, surrounding him._

_A shadow loomed before him, getting closer, and closer…_

 

Karkat opened his eyes and immediately regretted it.

“Shit… so bright.” he growled, squeezing his eyes shut. It ended up being more of a hoarse jumble of nonsense than a growl.

“Karkat?” A familiar voice asked gently.

“…Hey there, Kanaya.” he mumbled with his eyes still stubbornly shut.

“Karkat, you are going to have open your eyes sometime, you know.” she told him.

Reluctantly, he cracked open one eye to see the woman beside him, a concerned look painted on her delicate-looking face. “Kanaya, do me a favor and stop looking at me like I’m about to die.” he said hoarsely, hoisting himself up slowly. He felt sore and there was a dull throbbing in the back of his head.

He turned his head a little too quickly and the throbbing intensified to painful pounding. He gasped a little and Kanaya sprang into action, pushing him back into his lying position.

“Kanaya, I’m going to have to get up sometime fucking soon, you know.” he complained. “I’m fine.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Really! My head just hurts a little.” he insisted.

He sat up again.

What?!

“Kanaya, what the fuck even happened!?” he exclaimed, causing his head to hurt a little more. “They left, I was going to say something… or said something I don’t fucking remember… and then?”

Kanaya looked at him with a blasé expression. “Then Gamzee ran up yelling bloody murder and bashed you with one of his clubs.”

Karkat stared at her.

“Why am I not dead? Or brain-dead? Aren’t I supposed to all of a sudden forget my entire life and then have all of you explain my miserable existence on this world or something?”

“I suppose you got lucky.” Kanaya commented.

Karkat frowned. “Luck doesn’t exist. Only Vriska thinks luck is an actual fucking thing.”

Kanaya shrugged. “Or Gamzee went easy on you.” she suggested, watching Karkat carefully.

“Yeah.” Karkat replied uneasily.

They were silent for a moment.

“The others will be glad that you are awake.” Kanaya commented, breaking the silence.

Karkat gave her a disbelieving glance.

“Terezi was here every day. So was Sollux, but he probably did not want you to know that, so… do not tell him I told you.” she added. “Obviously I was here, too.”

Karkat just observed his hands.

“Sorry.” he mumbled, not able to look at Kanaya.

“For what?”

“For being a shitty leader.” he whispered.

“What was that?”

“…Nothing.” he sighed. He looked up again.

“So… can I get up and walk?” he asked. Kanaya shrugged. “I am not sure, but I suppose you can try.”

Karkat turned on the hospital bed and slid to the edge. He pushed himself up and stood on shaky legs.

Apparently in the time he spent passed out these legs decided to forget everything they knew about walking, because the first step he took almost made him face plant into the floor.

Luckily, Kanaya grabbed his arm before he gave the floor an impromptu meeting.

“Holy shit!” Karkat muttered, his heart hammering in his chest. “This is _really_ a great start to getting up and walking.”

Kanaya steadied him and he took a deep breath. “Ok, I’ve spent enough time moping in bed like an asshole, so I’m going to walk even if it kills me.” he seethed.

One step forward…

And another…

FUCK ALMOST FELL okay a third…

Yeah. He was doing great.

Kanaya followed close behind, and though he told her to go away and stop acting like he was some toddler taking its first steps, he was glad she was there because he really didn’t feel like falling down.

“I’m just going to walk around this room to get used to walking.” he told her.

Geez, is this what Tavros felt like when he got his prosthetic legs?

Finally, he was able to stroll around the room without feeling like his legs were going to crumble under his weight.

“Alright, Kanaya, I can walk, get me out of this place.” he ordered.

Kanaya laughed a little. “Let us get you checked out, then.”

\---

The doctor told them that Karkat would have some headaches but they would eventually pass. If they worsened, they were to report to the hospital immediately. He was a bit concerned at first about Karkat’s irritable behavior but was quickly assured by Kanaya that it was the man’s usual kind of behavior.

“You should probably say hello to Sollux.” Kanaya advised.

“Can’t you just call and say ‘Hello my dear friends Karkat is alive’?” Karkat complained.

“Yes, but it would be a lot better if you actually talked to them in person.” Kanaya insisted.

Karkat sighed and threw his arms in the air.

“Fine!”

\---

When they entered the store, Karkat couldn’t help but feel immensely relieved to find himself among all the red and blue once more, despite how annoying it was.

They made their way to the cash register, but Sollux found them first.

“Looking for thomeone?” he asked.

Karkat whirled around (ow his head) while Kanaya turned around much more calmly.

“Hey Sollux. Miss me?” Karkat countered.

“You? Nah, I wath overjoyed that I finally got rid of you and all of your annoying crap.” Sollux replied, the two of them heading toward the door. Kanaya got the hint and stayed behind.

“I finally get out of bed and all I get is your stupid fucking lisp.” Karkat snorted.

They stepped outside and walked a little ways away from the store.

“Karkat?”

Karkat glanced at Sollux. “Yeah?”

All of a sudden he was pulled into a hug.

Sollux wasn’t the emotional type; he usually covered up his feelings.

So Karkat was pretty surprised by his friend’s reaction.

Sollux pulled away and stared at the ground. “Don’t ever let that happen again, okay?”

“Okay.” Karkat promised. “Hey, it’s not like _you’ve_ never almost-died on me!”

Sollux shrugged. “Yeah, but that’th normal for me. Near death experientheth and thit like that. You practically never got theriouthly injured.”

Karkat offered his own shrug. “No need for you to get all sappy on me.”

“It’th a oneth in a lifetime thing. You’re lucky you were alive to thee it: Thollux Captor got emotional for oneth in hith fucked up life.” Sollux announced, waving his hands in the air.

Karkat laughed. “Us and our fucked up lives…” he said. He glanced at Sollux’s arm.

“Oh yeah, I can’t believe I forgot. Is your arm okay?” Karkat asked.

“Eh, it thtill hurtth when I move it, but I still have my arm intact.” Sollux replied, lifting his bandaged arm slightly and wincing.

“…It’s not like Eridan to miss.” Karkat commented.

“You know how he ith; he jutht wantth to thcare uth. He doethn’t have the ballth to actually do the job.” Sollux replied.

Karkat rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know. By any chance, did you or Terezi hold any meetings?”

“Well… TZ hath been buthy with thome cathe and hathn’t been able to do anything like that. And… I wathn’t _planning_ to hold any meetings… but then Nepeta called. For her, thith ith probably jutht a chanthe to talk to friendth or thomething. She athked if we going to have a meeting, tho I dethided to have one after all.” Sollux explained.

“And?”

“And we talked about everything that _wathn’t_ important, not that it wath bad. But then Equiuth thaid they had to go and before he left he athked uth what happened to you.” Sollux continued.

“Yeah, I guess me not showing up for a meeting says something.” Karkat said. “What did you guys say?”

“Nothing.”

Karkat gave him a disbelieving look. “So you guys just told him to fuck off, and he just left?”

Sollux grinned a little. “Actually, yeth.”

Karkat crossed his arms. “Liar.”

“Okay, fine, FF did.”

Karkat facepalmed. “Stop fucking around and tell me the truth.” he growled.

And _ow_! He was not going to facepalm again for a while, that actually _hurt_.

“No, I’m not kidding. FF told him that ith wath none of hith buthineth, after all, he did quit. Then he sort of wath quiet for a moment, turned, and walked off. I think that if he wathn’t Equius, he would probably have flipped the bird or thomething.” Sollux said.

Karkat laughed. “I would love to see Equius raise his middle finger just a centimeter close to flipping the bird. That would really make my day.”

“Yeah, but he’th too ‘proper’ to do anything like that, heh.” Sollux chuckled.

“Well, proper isn’t _too_ bad, or at least it isn’t when Kanaya’s doing it. She’s like the only sane one in our group.” Karkat added.

Sollux laughed again. “We mutht be really thcrewed if a woman who wieldth a chainthaw ith the only thane one.”

They walked back to the store, occasionally elbowing each other just for the heck of it.

“I thought you two were going to talk all day.” Kanaya commented when they returned. They shrugged and Sollux gave a little wave as the two left, then got back to work.

“How is your head?” Kanaya asked.

Karkat thought for a moment. “Still hurting a little, but it’s tolerable. Can I go home now?” he complained.

Kanaya shook her head with a wry smile. “We just need to Terezi, and then you can go home. I will call the rest.”

Karkat gaped at her. “Are you fucking kidding me? Sollux I get, but you’re making me go to Terezi on purpose.”

Kanaya raised an eyebrow. “So, do you want to go home instead?”

Karkat hesitated. “…No.” he relented. He pretended not to notice Kanaya’s smile and asked, “Where is she, do you even know?”

Kanaya nodded. “She told me that she’d be working on her case at home.”

Karkat sighed. “She needs to take a break sometime.” he grumbled. Kanaya shrugged. “She enjoys her work.” she stated simply.

It was rather ironic: Someone so skilled in crime to be just as skilled in justice. Maybe even more skilled.

Karkat clambered into the front seat, grumbling about being able to drive and not needing a chauffeur. Kanaya replied with the obvious fact that this was her car and she would not feel right if someone else was driving it, thank you very much.

“I can call them myself, you know.” Karkat pointed out. Kanaya smiled again. “Suit yourself, but you must promise me that you _will_ call them.” she said. Karkat sighed. “Yes, I promise. Now, start driving so I can get this over with.” he snapped.

\---

Karkat stood awkwardly outside Terezi’s apartment. Kanaya had decided to stay in her car downstairs like the huge help she was.

What was Karkat even going to say?

_“Oh, hey Terezi, I’m not dead! Ok then, you got the news, bye now._ ”

That’s absolutely fucking genius, Karkat.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

That was an absolutely failure of a knock. It was more like a very light tap.

Karkat gritted his teeth and went to “knock” on the door again-

“Karkat?!” Terezi opened the door before he could even brush the door with his knuckles.

“Terezi! Hi!” he blurted.

They stared (or whatever Terezi does) at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

Then Terezi nearly tackled him with her hug.

“Dammit… Why is everyone… hugging me today?” Karkat gasped. Terezi released him as quickly as she had grabbed him and looked (smelled? Karkat seriously no idea) at her shoes.

“Well, you almost died.” Terezi stated matter-of-factly.

“Yeaaaaaaah.” Karkat said, looking away.

And awkward silence passed between them.

“Do you want to come inside?” Terezi offered.

_Shit shit shit what do I do!?_

“Yes.” Karkat managed.

She held the door open for him as he awkwardly stepped in.

There was a mug of coffee steaming beside several photos of crime scenes and suspects, with a couch strewn with colorful pillows.

“Do you want some coffee?” Terezi asked. Karkat shrugged and nodded. She motioned to the couch, and Karkat tried to make himself comfortable without seeming too awkward. He looked over the pictures arranged on the table and leaned over, trying to make sense out of them.

Terezi returned with a second cup of coffee to see Karkat intensely analyzing the contents of her case. She laughed a little, and joined him on the couch. He stiffened a little when she scooted over closer to him, then relaxed a little.

“So… Want to help me on my case?” Terezi inquired.

Karkat gratefully took the steaming mug from her hands and replied, “Sure, I guess. Why do you think this guy is a suspect? I really think that he had nothing to do with this.”

“Really? Well…”

\---

Kanaya looked at her phone, rather frustrated.

She had waited for Karkat for over an hour now, and-

_Ding!_

She glanced at the little screen again, and groaned.

_Sorry Kanaya, I’ll be staying at Terezi’s for a while. And it’s not anything fucking intimate I’m just helping with her case, okay? So I hope you weren’t waiting around this whole time. Terezi said that she’d drive me home, or we’ll walk or something just go, okay?_

Kanaya laughed quietly and started her car.

So much for not wanting to go to Terezi’s.


	14. Gotta Catch a Break!!!!!!!!

This was stupid.

Everything was absolutely stupid and just not right.

Vriska paced back and forth in her apartment, which was also stupid because she wasn’t really a pacer.

Killing people was not really much of a problem for her, she didn’t really care. But maybe, the fact that most of her friends treated her as an enemy hurt her _just_ a little bit.

Well, a lot more than she’d admit.

Who did she have now? A demented juggalo and a whiny, overdramatic brunette.

Wow, Vriska, things are sure looking up!

She could work with Equius, he was mostly unemotional about things and even if he hated her she would never know. Now he was gone, and Vriska was forced to choose:

Stay with the weirdos and keep killing people, or go to the group of people that thought that she was a complete jerk.

Well, shit.

She had gotten into the group to please her mother. Her mother was an abomination, and Vriska wished that she had mustered up the courage to run away with her sister years ago. But she was little, and scared, and stayed.

Her mother probably planned to recruit her daughters into her “business” as soon as they were old enough to wield a weapon. Her mother was the head of a very large criminal organization, but it was nothing compared to the current ruling organization.

The queen of this presiding group was known as the Condescension, or the Condesce for short.

Also known as Feferi Peixes’ mother.

Whatever, either way, her mother was ready to get as many ruthless criminals she could get her claws on.

Vriska didn’t really feel like being part of this huge organization, she would prefer a smaller group with people that she actually knew. So she told her mother that she was in this gang thing to hone her skills and get spoils for her mother’s group.

She and her mother hadn’t spoken for a long time. If she quit, there was no way of her mother knowing. Or at least, there was no way if her mother ditched all the spies she had working for her.

She really didn’t feel like being in the gang anymore. It wasn’t even a gang!!!!!!!! She was tired of running around with a maniac, killing people for what seemed like sport, and fighting against her friends. She used to tell herself that she had to kill people, or else her mother would kill _her_ , but now it just seemed stupid. She was sick of all this; if anything, she’d go rogue like her sister. She had always looked up to her sister, even now, when she had lost contact with her.

She had to quit, but unfortunately, it would come for a price.

Vriska had to ask for help.

This was the worst scenario that could happen to her. She had done lots of terrible things, never expecting that she would have to ask anyone for help. If she’d known, maybe she would have been a _little_ nicer.

So who would she even ask?

Equius? Nope, they were both indifferent to each other’s respective problems. Karkat? HELL NO. The last thing she needed now was this guy yelling in her ear. Sollux? What, was she going to keep thinking of people that had nothing to do with her???????? He didn’t know her well enough to not hate her in every which way.

Tavros was a complete no, and so was Aradia. Feferi had problems with her mother, too, but Feferi wasn’t someone Vriska felt that she could talk to about this.

This left two options:

Terezi or Kanaya.

Terezi… What could she say to Terezi? No, she couldn’t talk to Pyrope. They had spent so much time warring against each other that Vriska quitting would be pretty much waving a white flag.

So, not Terezi.

Kanaya seemed to be her best bet.

It had been a long time since they had spoken, especially as friends. Vriska used to think that Kanaya stopped speaking with her because she was upset for Vriska kissing Tavros all that time ago. Vriska theorized that Kanaya had some crush on Tavros, and got pissed.

Those were the breaks, she would have probably told her.

Nowadays, she wasn’t so sure.

But that was a long time ago, and Vriska hoped that Kanaya was still willing to help her out.

She pressed Kanaya’s icon without another thought. She didn’t want to spend more time fussing over this.

“Hey, Kanaya?” She sat down on a chair, frowning a little.

“Hello, Vriska.” Did her voice sound bitter? Or was it the same amount of calm as usual?

“Oh well, I just wanted to check up on you, how’s the fashion business treating you?” Vriska planned to strike up a conversation and lead her into the subject.

“It’s fine. Is there any other reason you called?” Damn. Quick on the uptake, isn’t she?

“Yeah. I…”

“Yes?”

“Uh…” Did she just falter?

Vriska did not falter, stutter, or hesitate.

What the fuck was up with her????????

She sighed, and gritted her teeth. “I need your help.” she finally forced out.

“You need my help?”

_Yeah, Kanaya, I’m just as shocked and confused as you are._

“Yes, I need your help, you can laugh later but right now I need to talk to you.” she snapped.

“…Alright.”

She sighed again. “Okay, but can we not talk on the phone? Let’s just go to some little coffee shop and talk and stuff.”

Kanaya didn’t say anything.

“Oh my god. No, this isn’t a fucking trap, I actually need to talk about something important! You’re the only person that I can actually speak to about this, and I just don’t know what to do, I’ve been doing this-” Her voice reached an odd pitch at the last part and she stopped. “Just… come to the coffee shop across from the market.” she said instead. “Please.” she added.

“I will.” Kanaya finally replied.

“Thanks.” Vriska told her, and hung up.

God why was this so hard.

\---

Kanaya came right on time.

And by that it meant that _she_ was the one waiting for Vriska.

She was not entirely sure what this was all about, but something told her that this was not a trap. Why go through all the trouble?

The way Vriska had been speaking could not have been faked, or at least Kanaya hoped so.

Her stomach churned. She really had no idea how she felt about Vriska anymore.

Did she hate her?

Did she hate the woman that seemed to have done nothing but hurt others?

Did she hate the woman who had, albeit unintentionally, shattered her heart?

Oddly enough, no.

She knew her better than others. Well, Terezi knew her best.

But she knew some of her reasons for what she did.

Kanaya knew that in the end, Vriska did care somewhat. That she did want to do the right thing.

She had just made plenty of bad decisions.

Kanaya had long since gotten over her.

She had picked herself up,

Brushed herself off,

Lifted her head up and moved on.

But she did not detest Vriska. A punch in the face or two would suffice for most of her feelings.

Plus, Vriska seemed rather… desperate.

And desperate was _not_ the word you used to describe Vriska Serket.

After what seemed like ages, Vriska finally showed up.

She looked like she was going to make a snarky comment, but just slid into the seat across from her.

They simply stared at each other for a moment.

“I suppose we can start with ‘hello.’” Kanaya suggested.

Vriska snorted. “Okay then, hi.”

Kanaya smiled a little. “So, what do you need help with?”

Vriska winced and leaned in a little closer. “I want to quit.” she whispered.

What?

Terezi, Karkat, and Sollux were certainly going to find this information interesting. They had actually placed bets on who was going to quit next. Kanaya was rather certain that all of them lost on Equius, but nobody had even bet on him leaving. Vriska was probably going to surprise at least two of them.

“What is it that I can help you with?” Kanaya asked her. Vriska frowned. “You know my mom, right? Well, you don’t _know_ her, but you know _of_ her.” Kanaya nodded. “Well, I want to be able to go into hiding. And it’s not that easy to make a fake identity without anyone noticing. So I need your, ergh, _help_ , to find me a place to move into, another name, and a job.”

Kanaya tapped the table thoughtfully. From what she had gathered, Vriska had used the gang as an excuse to get out of her mother’s organization. Now that she was abandoning the gang, changing her identity was probably the safest course for her to take.

“Do you want to move out of the city, or…?” Kanaya queried. Vriska shook her head.

“I guess leaving the city entirely would be better, but I like this place. And even though you guys might be a group of weirdos, I do like talking to you people. I think that I’ll probably get lucky and she won’t notice me at all.” Vriska explained.

Ah, yes. Vriska’s luck.

Kanaya would usually pass luck off as fake, but with Vriska around, it was hard to say so.

“Vriska, I am more than happy to help you.” Kanaya told her. Vriska gave her a look of disbelief but shrugged. “Thanks. Do me a favor, and don’t tell anyone until we’re done with this.” Kanaya nodded, and held out a hand. Vriska laughed a little and shook it.

“How about we start now? What name do you think you could take on?” Kanaya inquired, smiling slightly.

Vriska grinned. “I don’t know, but it better have Mindfang in it. Maybe like a middle name so that it doesn’t look suspicious.”

“Mindfang?”

“It’s… from something my sister and I talked about a lot.” Vriska said matter-of-factly.

Kanaya watched Vriska’s expression carefully, but it was impassive as a stone wall.

“Well.” Kanaya managed awkwardly. “How about jobs?”

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, as always!  
> Today I can only offer you one chapter, but I will most likely have the next up tomorrow!  
> Bye for now. :33


	15. Honk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaand I'm back! Enjoy! :)  
> P.S. The italics when Vriska is talking is there because she's supposed to be a bit far away.

  _“So, what are we going to do now? We're a group, fan-fucking-tastic, what are we even doing?" Karkat asked irritably. They all looked at Gamzee for a reply. “What are we motherfuckers going to do... Well, Karkat, got anything you want to get your motherfucking revenge on for?" Karkat hesitated._

_His parents._

_“Yeah." he told him. Gamzee grinned. “So what's your motherfucking problem, Karbro?" the clown probed twirling his club._

_“There's some people out there that killed my parents. I want them to fucking pay." Gamzee nodded._

_“Do you even know who they were? How they looked like?" Terezi asked. Karkat nodded. “They're part of another gang, I've seen them around."_

_“Well, let's get down to motherfucking business." Gamzee declared, chuckling._

_Aradia looked unsure._

_Tavros looked nervous._

_Sollux looked indifferent_

_Kanaya looked calm._

_Terezi looked eager._

_Vriska looked bored._

_Equius just had a blank expression._

_Eridan looked sullen._

_Feferi was trying to look enthusiastic.*_

_And Karkat..._

_He wasn't sure how he felt._

_Maybe... thrilled?_

_Yeah, that seemed about right._

_Thrilled to finally get his revenge._

\--

Karkat woke up feeling confused.

Where the fuck-

He was on Terezi's couch. He must have fallen asleep by accident.

He groggily got up with a groan, glancing at the pictures strewn across the table. They had figured out the guy responsible for the murder, but they had spent time puzzling over the case well into the night.

He squinted at the clock on the wall and groaned again. Terezi had probably already left.

So she just left him sleeping on the couch?!

He guessed that he probably looked so adorable that she couldn’t make herself wake him up.

He stumbled over to the bathroom and assessed his appearance with drowsy eyes.

Somehow, his hair was even messier than usual, and his shirt was rumpled.

He ran his hand along his hair, making a half-hearted attempt at smoothing it out. He splashed some cold water in his face to shock him into alert mode.

He decided that he looked decent enough, despite the now rather noticeable stubble speckling the bottom part of his face.

He hastily wrote a note to Terezi telling her that he left and also took a few things to make breakfast (a simple sandwich and a cup with some orange juice) and headed out the door.

Shit, how was he going to lock it?

Cursing under his breath, he came back inside.

He spotted a key on the counter with a note (how did he miss that before?) and grabbed it.

_Hi Karkles, it’s about time you woke up. Lock the door when you leave. And don’t think about ever using that key to break into my apartment, it’ll probably kill you._

Like he was planning on breaking into her apartment.

This was the perfect chance to poke around a little. Knowing Terezi, she probably had left traps of some sort, but it was still worth a try, right?

_No you fucking creep don’t snoop around her stuff. Just grab the key and go!_

Yeah, what could he even find here? Clues to the mystery of her origins and past life?

_No go go leave you fucking fuck._

Gritting his teeth, he hightailed out of there, locking the door. He set off on a brisk walk and tried not to look like a guy who just slept in his clothes on a couch.

_Fat chance of that happening_ , he mused, absentmindedly taking a bite of his sandwich and a swig of juice. He set off toward the building where his own apartment was housed.

He thought back to the dream he had. It was more of a memory, really. That was such a long time ago…

When he still enjoyed the thrill of… well. Getting blood on his hands.

His life was seriously fucked up. Whatever god or gods lived up there undoubtedly had said to themselves or selves, “Oh, I am so bored. Let’s just mess around with this one kid and make his life unnecessarily complicated.” Thanks a lot.

Once he returned to home sweet home, a small yet cozy apartment, he considered calling Kanaya. She would most likely start fussing and meddling again if he didn’t tell her that he was back home soon. After all, he had told her that he wouldn’t stay the entire evening at Terezi’s. He pulled out his phone and WOAH SHIT that’s a lot of messages.

Did something happen?

While he spent the night sipping coffee and cuddling (ok no he didn’t) with Terezi over murder cases, did something happen!?

He worriedly checked his message list. Most were from Sollux, only one was from Kanaya.

As usual, Sollux used that weird quirk that they had joked about when they were younger

_KK, why won’t you an2wer?_

_KK where the fuck are you._

_thii2 could be a 2eriious problem KK._

_KK!!_

_holy 2hiit what are you doiing that ii2 2o iimportant that you iignore me?!_

Karkat facepalmed and groaned. What was Sollux flipping his shit for?

He scrolled down past the list of more useless comments until he finally got to the important one.

_2he ha2n’t an2wered except ju2t to 2ay “I’m fine” and that’2 iit._

Who hasn’t answered?

Oh shit.

_Kanaya went over to Vriiska’2._

Shit shit shit.

Why did she even go to that insane backstabbing bitch?!

It was probably a trap, it had to be a trap.

What was she thinking!?!?!?!

He tried to tell himself that he was overreacting but utterly failed. He had every right to overreact, he was the leader and the last thing he needed was Kanaya, out of all people, getting herself into trouble.

He called Kanaya’s number and waited as antagonizing seconds went by.

“Yes?”

“Kanaya, what the fuck are you doing with Vriska?”

“Karkat, just because I am speaking to her does not mean that I am in immediate danger.”

“Too bad, I, as your leader, am telling you to get the fuck away if you’re still anywhere near her.” he commanded, impatiently tapping his finger on the wall.

“Karkat.”

“What?!”

“You are being incredibly silly.”

“Kanaya, I am being COMPLETELY SERIOUS!!” he yelled.

_“Is he flipping his shit or what?”_

“Yes, he is.”

“That’s Vriska, right? Tell her to fuck off.” he growled.

“He told me to-”

“ _I can hear him from here, I don’t know how you can listen to him without him blowing your ear out. Tell him that he’s_ a complete dweeb and that he should just put the phone down and let two women take care of their business!!!!!!!!”

Karkat scowled. “And what is this fucking business about?”

“It’s none of yours.” Vriska’s voice snapped loud and clear.

“Vriska, despite your plans, you are not making the best of impressions. Also, if I may have my phone…?”

Plans? What plans?!

“What the fuck are you plotting?” he practically screamed into the phone.

“Karkat, please calm down. I will explain everything to you when I have the time. Goodbye for now!”

“Kanaya, don’t- oh shit you hung up.”

He sighed and slid into a chair, holding his head in his hands.

What was Kanaya up to?

What was _Vriska_ up to?

Maybe she was quitting? Yeah, right. Vriska enjoyed being in that gang, he was sure of it. The only reason she would leave would be if it got too boring.

Kanaya and Terezi always seemed to know something he didn’t, like he gave a damn.

Terezi’s relationship with Vriska was complicated.

They were the closest of friends, or the bitterest of rivals.

A conversation between the two fluctuated from friendly chatting to tense arguments.

Kanaya had always tried to help Vriska, help guide her to the right path.

That clearly turned out to be a complete disaster.

And now, after all this time, Kanaya was helping Vriska again.

He sighed. For a while, all of the craziness had seemed to die down.

Then Equius quit and shit hit the whirling device.

He wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t joined.

His phone rang again, and he answered without looking at the caller.

“Who is it?”

“Honk.”

OH FUCK NO.

“Gamzee?”

“Who else could it be?”

“Why the fuck are you calling me?” Karkat asked, slightly nervous.

“I heard that you finally woke up.”

“Yeah, no thanks to you.” Karkat growled, running a hand through his hair.

“That was a warning.”

“Just a warning? Man, I guess I should be scared to see what you would do for real.” Karkat jabbered.

“Then you should be motherfucking worrying now.”

“Now?”

Now? Karkat leaned back, biting his lip.

“I was motherfucking thinking… about what I said about you. HOW YOU, THE MOTHERFUCKING TRAITOROUS SON OF BITCH, started up a whole chain of events.”

“…Yeah?” Stay calm, Karkat. Don’t let him realize that you’re about to shit your pants.

“You’ve got the others twisted around your motherfucking little finger. They listen to you, they listen as you pour the terrible poisonous lies in their ears.”

Karkat wanted to throw the phone away. “Lies? What fucking lies? That killing people is bad? That they could lead better lives than the ones you gave them?”

“SHUT UP.”

“No, I won’t! How can you not fucking understand?! It was insane. It was insane and pointless and you know it. You just wanted an excuse to kill people! I’m not lying to them, Gamzee. I just told them the truth; we were blindly stumbling after a demented serial killer!!” Karkat yelled, his voice only slightly shaking.

“I thought we were motherfucking friends, Karbro.”

“Oh my fucking god, Gamzee. I did too. But you never seemed to care. Ever. It was all about getting more blood on your hands.” Karkat was on the verge of tears and he hated himself for it.

Gamzee’s signature wild laughter emanated from the phone and rejuvenated Karkat’s headache.

“I’m going to find you, bro.”

Oh god no.

“I’M GONNA MOTHERFUCKING FIND YOU, BROTHER. And when I do…”

Karkat was almost shaking. He remembered the last time he had witnessed Gamzee’s wrath; it wasn’t pretty.

“I WILL FINALLY GET MY MOTHERFUCKING REVENGE ON WHAT YOU DID.”

Karkat succumbed to the urge and tossed the phone to the floor.

Somehow, it had gotten on speaker mode.

“Don’t worry, Karkat. I promise I won’t make it hurt too much.”

Karkat’s headache intensified. Had the doctor warned him about stressing too much? Whoops.

“Honk.”

The phone went silent.

Karkat had never been so terrified in his life.


	16. Well That Escalated Quickly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hai there.  
> So... a hectic week + a wonky computer = one kind-of-late chapter.   
> Either way.... ENJOY!!

Nepeta felt incredibly nervous and she had no idea why.

Those that knew her in the streets called it a sixth sense of sorts. It was like a storm was impending, and she couldn’t help but feel tense and anxious. It had always helped before, alerting her to any danger lurking behind. She had come to rely on it, and often wondered what would happen to her if she didn’t have the “sense.”

Either way, she took her fighting claws just in case.

Throughout the day she tried her best to keep her emotions in check, trying not to literally jump out of her skin when unexpected contact occurred. She forced a smile on her face, trying to act natural.

Of course, everyone knows that when you try to act natural, the last thing you manage to pull off is being natural.

Finally, their lunch break came, and Nepeta leaned on the counter, sighing.

“Nepeta?”

_Ugh I can’t even relax for a moment damn sixth sense making me all nervous and weird-_

“Nepeta!” Equius’s voice violently interrupted her silent raging.

“What!?” she snapped.

Equius furrowed his brow and she winced.

“Sorry!” she hastily apologized. “I’ve just been really edgy today, and I’m not sure why.”

He shrugged and motioned for her to sit down. She knew better than to argue and complied.

“I have news that might make you feel better.” Equius offered. She shrugged, holding her head in her hand. “We are going to another meeting.”

“Another one?” Nepeta asked, surprised. Weren’t they _just_ at a meeting?

And why did he keep calling them meetings?

Maybe he could call them…

Hangouts?

Or, uh…

Ok, scratch that, meetings work.

“Yay!” she exclaimed, but she didn’t actually feel that excited.

What was going on with her today?!?!?

Equius must have been really concerned, because he added, “Karkat set the meeting up this time.”

Nepeta actually let out a little squeal. “Oh, so he’s all better now! That’s good, I mean, that’s great!” Nepeta blabbered. “Er, I mean… hey, isn’t it time for us to get back to work?” her voice reaching an odd pitch at the end. Equius gave her an odd look and she gave him a huge grin.

“Nepeta, you are acting exceptionally odd today.” Equius noted.

“No, I’m not!” Nepeta replied, keeping her grin and gritting her teeth.

“Yes, you are.”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!!!”

Ok, that’s enough. Time to move on; we can’t watch them arguing all day.

 

\---

 

They arrived, and Equius was surprised to see Vriska there.

Vriska. Early. Without Gamzee and Eridan.

He decided to let events reveal themselves and situated himself in his spot.

To his dismay, Nepeta nearly tackled Karkat to the ground with her embrace.

“Oh, I’m so glad you got better!” Nepeta exclaimed.

Karkat had an indiscernible expression on his face, while the others stifled laughter.

Something told him that she felt a little more than concern for the hot-headed man.

Nepeta pulled away suddenly, and scrambled into a chair, blushing furiously.

“So!” She began. “How is everyone?”

Everyone answered in their own way, while Equius let his mind drift onto other matters. Important matters.

For example:

Well, actually, it was more about the mental stability of Gamzee that he was worried about.

Without Vriska on his side, he was dangerously close to completely toppling over into the deep end.

He snapped out of his thoughts for a moment to listen in on the conversation.

Vriska was talking about how she was trying to find a decent job, Kanaya nodding along.

Terezi grinned, and offered her a position in the police department.

They both laughed like two friends sharing an old joke, prompting laughs from the others. Equius, on the other hand, could not find the humor in the conversation.

Well, he could, but laughing was not really his thing.

He turned his attention to Karkat. He was not laughing, either. In fact, the entire time he had looked rather pale and tense.

Equius shook his head slightly and sighed softly to himself. As usual, he would have to endure the ordeal of listening to all of the discussions that most of the time meant nothing to him.

Yes, Kanaya, your fashion label sounds _incredibly_ fascinating….

How could it be that Vriska Serket was in the room, and everything seemed to be impossibly boring?!

He gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to just punch something out of frustration. If it was not for Nepeta, he would not even have to be here. Oh well.

In the meanwhile, what could he think about? Aside from murderous, insane former comrades, of course.

How about horses? Yes, that was a perfect way to pass the time.

And just as he was going to think about the most majestic creatures ever known to man, Karkat’s phone rang.

\---

_hey motherfucking best friend_

_see you in a bit_

_;o)_

WELL FUCK.

He wished that he could just hurl his phone across the room.

\---

 

Karkat looked like he was ready to throw his phone across the room. He also looked like he was going to collapse; he looked utterly petrified.

He took a deep breath and apparently tried to compose himself.

“What is it?” Nepeta queried.

“Oh nothing. Gamzee just messaged me, said he’s coming.” Nepeta nodded, a bit perturbed by the odd change in atmosphere.

The conversations afterwards were strained; everyone just seemed to be looking in the direction of the door.

This sure was weird; it was only Gamzee!

She was about to inquire about everyone’s discomfort when the clown himself waltzed in.

They all watched him, as if waiting to see what he would do.

“Hey, motherfuckers.” was the first thing he said.

See? Nothing to worry about, just a guy saying hello!

“Hey, Nepeta, just out of motherfucking curiosity, what’s your zodiac sign? It’s been all up and motherfucking bothering me all night.” Gamzee inquired, slipping into a seat near her.

Oh yeah, all that horoscope hype these people were on. Kind of a random question, but whatever.

Equius stiffened up so much that he might as well have turned into wood. What’s his deal?

“I’m a Leo!” Nepeta told him.

The atmosphere became so taut that she was surprised that it didn’t just snap.

“So, Karbro, remember my call yesterday?” Gamzee drawled, turning to Karkat.

Karkat looked like he really wanted to just get the fuck away.

And _then_ it snapped.

With a speed that Nepeta didn’t know was possible, Gamzee bolted out of the chair and at Karkat, holding the yelling brunette up by the throat in the air.

“Told ya I’d find you.” Gamzee muttered, a maniacal grin spreading across his face.

_Oh my god what was going on?!_

The others were getting up, pulling out weapons as Nepeta just watched in shock.

Karkat was kicking and screaming but to no avail.

“GAMZEE, STOP, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE-” Karkat yelled, getting cut off by Gamzee tightening his grip.

“For someone getting motherfucking choked you make too much noise.” He growled.

_What do I do, what do I do?!_

Terezi crept up behind him, a blade held firmly in her hand. As she stepped near Gamzee he swung his arm and sent her flying onto the table. Nepeta held out her arms to make sure the redhead didn’t hit the ground.

“I wouldn’t get close if I were you, dear.” Gamzee hissed “politely”.

“Are you okay-” Nepeta started whispering, then stopped as Gamzee tossed Karkat onto the ground, who gasped for breath on all fours.

“I’d love to stick around and cause more motherfucking delirious chaos but I can’t stay for long.” Gamzee announced, aiming a kick to Karkat’s side, who yelped in pain. Sollux looked like he was ready to tear the guy’s throat out.

“I guess you could say that this was my second warning.” Gamzee continued, walking away.

He turned to Vriska.

“And don’t forget.

AND DON’T MOTHERFUCKING FORGET.

That I know where you all came from.

WHAT YOU MOTHERFUCKING ESCAPED FROM.”

He leaned towards Vriska. “Who knows, I might just tell a certain someone what you’ve been up to.”

Vriska leaned back, gritting her teeth. “Fuck off, Gamzee.”

He shrugged, and left.

They stood (and sat) in utter silence for a short moment.

Then…

_“Holy thit KK thingth jutht happen to you don’t they?”_

_“What just-_

_“What do we-_

_“Oh my glub-_

_“We are so fucking screwed-_

_“Fucking Gamzee-_

“Nepeta, we are leaving.”

Nepeta looked up, feeling confused and scared and just about everything. “But-”

“Now.” Equius commanded, grabbing her wrist and absconding away from the pandemonium at the store.

_Oh my god what did I get myself into._


	17. Brewing Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, everybody!!  
> The following chapters will involve a lot of flashbacks (the latter more than the first)! So... hopefully things don't turn out too confusing.  
> Anyway...  
> ENJOY  
> and thank you for reading

“Aries, Tauros, Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, Libra…” Gamzee murmured to himself, dabbing his brush into yet another color, lovingly painting the little symbols in their own special color. “… Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.”

He had always loved to paint. It was a sort of escape; an escape where he could pour all his thoughts onto canvas.

He gritted his teeth, and began to streak colors across the blank parts of the canvas.

He used the colors of the rainbow, but they were darker, duller.

He leaned back to admire his work. It almost looked like blood was dripping between the zodiac signs… well, if the other colors could still be considered blood. Whatever.

His eyes traveled over some of the signs, and he growled, lifting his brush. A drop of purple splattered onto the floor before he continued.

A slash across Scorpio. Then Sagittarius. Then Pisces, Virgo.

Libra, Tauros, Aries, Gemini.

Finally, Cancer. He painted three slashes over that one.

He looked over at the remaining signs with a scowl on his face.

Only Aquarius.

Eridan was good at what he did. He was a genius with a gun, but he was always so reluctant to do his job. When the others were around, he was a little more cooperative. Now it took threats to get the sulking man to do _anything_.

Gamzee sighed, drumming his fingers on the table.

His mind drifted back to days long gone…

He dimly remembered the time when alcohol took up every little bit of his life, except for the part that his friends filled in.

The alcohol was _poison_. It had rotted his motherfucking brain.

He was a fool, a grinning idiot oblivious to the horrors of the real world. People seemed to like him better back then, but they were wrong.

He was better like this.

And _no one_ should dare to tell him otherwise.

He wrenched his thoughts back to the painting.

“Oh, what do we have here?” he whispered, his paintbrush poised above a space between Cancer and Virgo. “Something’s missing!” he sang, a grin returning to his face.

Strokes of olive green joined together to form a sign that had been missing for so long.

Finally, they were complete.

She wouldn’t understand at first, but he would help her. He would help her realize that the others were rotten liars and cheats, and that he knew best.

There were so many bad people… So many people that did things the wrong way.

With a little work, little Nepeta could be the second-most feared person in Alternia…

The first being Gamzee, of course.

He chuckled to himself.

Was it a coincidence that the young Leo stumbled into this fray?

Not at all.

For all Gamzee knew, it was a pure miracle.

 

* * *

 

“You w-want me to w-what?!” Eridan shrieked. Alright, that was a little more high-pitched than he bargained for, but _whatever_.

What had gotten into the manic clown’s head now?

“That’s a motherfucking _order_ , Eridan.” the man growled. Eridan took a step back. “But… w-why don’t you just do it yourself?” he asked.

“Because Equius won’t let me even look at his Nepeta without flipping the motherfucking shit.” Gamzee explained.

Eridan warily looked at the juggling club Gamzee was gripping but stood his ground. “So you w-want _me_ to kidnap Nepeta? It’s not like he has a better v-view of _me_ or anythin’!” Eridan protested.

Nepeta had absolutely _nothing_ to do with anything. She was just some cute girl unaware of the storm raging around her. Kidnapping her would scare the wits out of her, and he’d rather not make that impression.

“Are you saying… that you motherfucking refuse?” Gamzee inquired, his voice dangerously quiet.

“Yes! I mean, no! Fuck, I mean w-wait! W-what’s the point of all this?!” Eridan stammered, taking another step back as Gamzee took a menacing step forward.

_Fuck fuck where is my gun!?_

Gamzee laughed and he looked up, dread filling every fiber of his body as Gamzee waved a gun in the air.

_Eridan’s_ gun.

“Looking for something?” Gamzee asked.

Eridan opened his mouth and then closed it.

_Oh my god._

“So let me ask you again…” Gamzee hissed, grabbing Eridan’s wrist painfully and wrenching him forward. “ARE YOU MOTHERFUCKING DISOBEYING ME?!”

Eridan gulped.

_Well I guess I could do one thing right in life._

“Yes.” Eridan breathed.

 

* * *

 

Karkat paced back and forth in his apartment, Sollux watching with a mixture of amusement and concern.

“What the fuck are we going to do!?” he exclaimed, running a hand through his hair.

Sollux sighed. “KK, thith ith the fifth time you’ve athked me that. Calm down!” Sollux complained.

Karkat glared at him and opened his mouth to reply when his phone dinged.

With a yell he threw his phone down and backed away as if it was going to bite him.

Sollux leaned over in his chair to look at the screen.

Someone had sent him a picture.

It was a bloodied wall, and written in blood was “HONK :o)”. On the ground he could make out a hand and… was that a scarf?

“Well… good riddanthe.” he said, though his voice cracked and shook.

“Oh my god.” Karkat half-whispered, clutching his head. “Oh my god.” he repeated.

Sollux wanted to slap him. “Get a grip, athhole! Gamthee thent that to throw you off, and tho far he’th done hith job!”

Somehow yelling at Karkat helped settle his own nerves as well.

Karkat took a deep breath. “If he wants war, we’ll take it to him. Do me a fucking favor and get everyone together.” Sollux nodded, glad to see that his friend was back. “Also, you only bugged Eridan, right?” he asked. Sollux adjusted his glasses. “Yeah, but I think I can track hith phone.”

“Fine, do that then.”

Calls were made, and Karkat made sure that they knew it was “ _fucking urgent, you hear me?”_

Sollux hung up on the person he was talking to and frowned. “Equiuth thayth he’th not coming.” he dead-panned. Karkat swore and yelled, “Why the fuck not!? We _need_ his fucking superhuman strength!”

Sollux shrugged. “He thayth that he’d rather not get involved, and that he had hith own matterth to deal with.”

 

* * *

 

“Equius!” Nepeta yelled.

“What?” he replied nonchalantly.

“No, don’t do that!” Nepeta said angrily.

He half-turned in his seat to look at her. “Do what?” he asked slowly, his face a blank mask.

“That thing where you pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about! Equius, you better tell me what happened yesterday or I’ll…” she exclaimed, trailing off at the end.

“You will…?” Equius prompted.

Nepeta growled and tackled him out of the seat and onto the ground.

“I’m sick of not knowing anything and putting up with this mysterious bullshit!” she hissed.

He gave her a stern look. “Nepeta, language.”

She gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to just break out cuss words left and right.

“Just… please tell me.”

Equius sighed and gently pried her off. “What do you need to know? Oh yes. You see, Gamzee just happens to hide a much more sinister personality that comes out from time to time. That is all.”

Nepeta gave him a disbelieving glance. “Equius, everyone had _weapons_. Who brings weapons to a videogame store?” He glanced back at her. “You.” She grimaced.

“What I’m trying to say is that there’s _no way_ that’s the whole story!” Nepeta shouted, exasperated. She had gotten no response from him yesterday and today was yielding not much more.

“Ignorance is-” Equius began, but Nepeta cut him off. “Ignorance is _not_ bliss, Equius! What if I went to hang out with Gamzee; I could’ve gotten hurt!”

He sighed again. “I would not have let you gone anyway.”

She groaned. “Fine, tell me about the call you just got.”

“What call?”

“Oh my god, the one where Karkat called and he said something and you got this really funny look on your face and then said no?” Nepeta probed.

Equius didn’t say anything.

“It was a meeting, right?” Nepeta asked.

No reply. She must be getting something right.

“Was it a meeting about Gamzee?” she tried.

Equius frowned and stayed silent.

Fine then. If he won’t answer those questions, she’ll ask something else.

“Equius, how did you meet your friends?”

He stiffened up but _still_ remained quiet.

“Equius?” Nepeta tried again.

He sighed and put his head in his hands. “Since it seems that you are unable to cease firing questions at me, I suppose I have no choice but to answer them.”

Score!

“But I probably would not give the most accurate of explanations of this situation.” he continued. He got up and motioned for her to follow. “Where are we going?” Nepeta asked, confused.

He looked like he couldn’t believe his own answer when he replied, “To Karkat.”

 

* * *

 

Feferi ushered the remaining visitors out of her house. “Sorry, due to some aquarium problems I have to close early! Sorry again!” she told them. Once she was alone, she plopped down onto a seat near her favorite aquarium, the one filled with cuttlefish. “I wonder… What could be so important?” she mulled aloud, directing her question to the swimming creatures. Obviously they made no reply, and kept swimming like there was nothing wrong.

It was probably Gamzee.

It was _always_ Gamzee in some way.

Feferi wished that he would just settle down and let bygones be bygones. She just wanted to live her life like a normal person, albeit a person who kept tons of aquariums in her house. She was glad that she didn’t have the same problem that Vriska did. Her own mother was even worse, but unlike Vriska her mother didn’t care if Feferi quit. In fact, it was good news for the Condesce, since Feferi was no longer posing the threat of taking her place.

Feferi made a mental note to call her former nanny, Glory. Despite having raised her mother, she was very kind and cared deeply about Feferi. She remembered the stories she whispered to her at night and smiled.

Her phone rang and she sprang out of her seat, realizing that she had spent _way_ too much time dwelling on the past! As she hurriedly bolted out of the door, she answered her phone. “Sorry, sorry, I’ll be right there!” she promised.

“…Fef?”

She stopped dead in her tracks.

“Eridan? Wha-” she stammered.

“Fef… please listen. He w-wants… Nepeta. I don’t… know-w…w..why.” She heard him break into a coughing fit and panicked a little.

“Eridan! Where are you?! Are you okay?” she asked, flustered.

“…’m fine. Either w-way… you bugged my cape. You’ll find me.” he answered. His voice was strained and he sounded extremely tired.

“Eridan, stay put, I’ll get help!” she told him.

“Heh… thanks Fef.”

“This better not be a trap, you hear me!”

No answer.

“Eridan!?”

Oh my glubbing glub.

She bolted off in the direction of the store, calling Sollux in the process.

“Sollux, _where is Nepeta?_ ”

 

* * *

 

Vriska finished filling out her forms and waited impatiently for the page to load.

She had always wanted to sail a boat, so why not sign up for lessons?

She was convinced that she’d be a natural anyway; it couldn’t be _that_ hard.

She yawned, then froze as the cool touch of metal met her neck.

She knew that sitting outside the café was a horrible idea.

“You’re making a mistake.” she announced to her assailant.

“No, my dear. I think _you’re_ making a mistake.” a familiar voice purred. “After all, what made you think that you could hide from your own mother?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also added those line things so that there isn't such an abrupt change between scenes.


	18. Make Them Pay

_“Where is Karkat?” he asked. Sollux did not reply. Equius frowned. “Is he alright?” Sollux glared at him and muttered, “He’th fine. Why the fuck do you even care?” Equius crossed his arms. “Our leader gave me the order to ask you, since you are a good friend of his.”_

_Sollux gave him a disbelieving look. “I thought Gamthee called KK hith “betht motherfucking friend”. Why doethn’t_ he _know?”_

_Equius growled and replied, “I do not know such information either, peasant.”_

_Sollux clenched his fists. “If you’re going to be part of a group, you don’t go around calling people peathanth.” he spat._

_Then he paused, and resumed in a lower tone. “Have you ever thought of… quitting? You know… not to kill anyone anymore, to live normal a life?”_

_Equius stared at him. “That would mean deserting the cause! Though the process may not be the cleanest, it is for a noble reason.” he declared, subconsciously glancing on the tattoo on his arm._

_Sollux blinked, then looked down to examine the markings on his wrist._

_“He wath right.” the boy mumbled. “We_ are _brainwathed.”_

* * *

 

“Karkat!” Equius boomed, knocking on the door once more. Nepeta shook her head. “Equius, he’s not there. Why don’t _you_ tell me?” she whined, tugging on his arm. He looked at her.

So innocent. So…

_No, Equius. She is not as vulnerable as she looks._

_She almost ripped your throat out when you first met._

_Definitely not weak._

“Nepeta, for a long time, I was… misguided. I did not understand the severity of my situation until it was almost too late. Karkat and the others… they would explain it better, with the truth.” he told her.

Uncertainty flickered in her cat-like eyes, but she nodded.

“Okay. I trust your choices. So… where could he be?” Nepeta asked, but one word stuck in his mind.

  1. What a fickle thing.



“He is probably at the store. He called a meeting, after all.” He reached into his pocket for his phone, then realized that he had left it at home.

They set off, walking in a tense, yet not uncomfortable, silence.

He felt Nepeta stiffen up beside him. “What is it?” he inquired.

“Sometimes I get this weird feeling. It’s always when something bad is going to happen.” she hurriedly whispered, tugging her claws onto her hands.

“Honk.”

Equius gasped and Nepeta gave a little yelp. They stood back to back and examined their surroundings, looking for a sign of the culprit.

“Up here, motherfuckers.”

 

* * *

 

_“You’re quitting?!” she screeched._

_“I… am.” Tavros mumbled, clasping his hands behind his back._

_“You’ve got nothing better to in life, you dork. What about all the things I did for you? All the things we did together? And you’re just going to throw it away?” she challenged._

_He frowned. “This isn’t, uh, about you! I don’t like, um, hurting people. I don’t want to do it anymore.”_

_Vriska clenched her fists as he continued. “Uh... Besides, the things you did weren’t always, um, good. Or helpful. I want to live a normal life, like I, uh, did before you, uh, got involved.”_

_She grabbed his shirt and pulled him close to her. “Since when did you grow the backbone to stand up to me?” she hissed._

_“Uh-”_

_“Do you know where we are, Tavros?” she asked him._

_“On the, um, sixth floor of the warehouse?” he meekly replied._

_“Exactly. Tavros, you’ve always wanted to fly, didn’t you?”_

_“Uh, yeah, but-”_

_She pushed him away, rather close to a window. It was large enough to suit her plans._

_“Then flyyyyyyyy!” she yelled, pushing him as hard as she could. He screamed as the glass shattered and he fell to the ground below. Laughing softly to herself, she walked off without a care in the world._

_Only to find out that she has triggered the first of what would become a long chain of events._

* * *

“After all I’ve done for you, this is the thanks I get?” her mother hissed.

Vriska rolled her eyes. “You’re right, you deserve a lot _less_.” she jeered.

They paused for a moment, taking in their surroundings. Then calmly, as if nothing was wrong, they set off for a more suitable location.

After all, they didn’t need any unwanted attention.

This was between them and them alone.

As soon as they were alone, Vriska lunged, knife in hand. Her mother casually moved out the way and aimed a kick at her side, sending her flying. Her knife clattered to the ground.

Her mother picked it up and looked over it nonchalantly. “Is that all?” she asked bluntly.

Vriska growled and lunged once more, this time trying a punch. It was quickly intercepted by a hand, and soon she found herself on her knees, with her arm painfully bent behind her back.

“You haven’t improved much, dear. I could teach you how to fight, and to win.” her mother told her.

Vriska winced in pain and sighed in defeat. “Fine. I’ll work with you.”

A smug smile painted the woman’s pale face. “Although I must say… it is rather disappointing how quickly you gave up. I expected more from my own daughter.”

As soon as Vriska felt the grip on her arm loosen, she grinned. Breaking out of the grasp, she whirled around, her gun staring right down at the woman.

“Who said anything about giving up?”

 

* * *

 

_His head felt fuzzy as he got into the car. Aranea… wait, no, she was Aradia, what was wrong with him? Aradia clambered into the seat next to him and smiled at him. He smiled back, completely unsure of his actions._

_“Are you okay?” she asked him. Her voice sounded strange to him; everything sounded strange._

_“…I think tho.” he answered uncertainly, and started the car._

_The road looked odd and unnatural. He tried taking off his glasses; now everything was brighter and it made it worse._

_Something happened. He didn’t know what exactly had occurred, but the next moment he was clutching a bleeding Aradia in the wreckage of his car._

_“I’m thorry.” he whispered as the police and ambulance vehicles filled the airs with their wailing sirens._

_“I’m tho thorry.”_

 

* * *

 

_She had started to recover. She could move something without it hurting; she could speak and it would make sense._

_But after all that pain, she just felt numb now. Dull._

_She was okay now. Everything was okay._

_Her comrades informed her that Vriska was the cause of her near-death. She had spiked Sollux’s drink with some sort of drug, causing him to get into an accident._

_Whenever Sollux visited, he always seemed so upset. She wished he would just be happy._

_It seemed like such a long time ago since she was happy herself._

 

* * *

 

“Everybody please calm down!” Aradia yelled. How come _she_ was the one yelling?

“He isn’t answering!!” Karkat roared in a panic. “And where the _fuck_ is Vriska!?”

Sollux shrugged. “Vrithka thaid the’d come.”

“I bet this was a whole fucking elaborate trap. Vriska gets our trust, then goes and kidnaps Nepeta behind our backs or something. Either way, I think we just got backstabbed again.” Karkat growled.

“Who knows, she might have gotten into traffic or something.” Terezi suggested.

“THERE IS NO FUCKING TRAFFIC AROUND HERE!” Karkat yelled. “Why are you so defensive about her, anyway?”

Terezi tapped her cane on the ground. “I just think you’re jumping to conclusions too quickly.”

“That wasn’t a jump, Terezi. I literally just stepped to the conclusion. It is right there, in front of us all and laughing in our faces.” Karkat fumed.

Kanaya shook her head. “Karkat, she is right. We have no proof of her going behind our backs.”

Karkat was about to utter another retort when Feferi broke in.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt, but what about Eridan?” she asked.

“What about him?” Sollux asked.

“He sounded like he was in trouble on the phone!” she exclaimed.

Sollux and Karkat glanced at each other.

“Sollux, can you please do some sort of computer thing and find where he is? I’m going to go and help him.” Feferi announced.

Sollux stared at her. “Theriouthly?! After all the thitty thingth he did? Why would you want to-” Feferi glared at him and cut him off.

“I’m not going to forgive him for the terrible things he’s said and done, but he’s still a person. Not only that, but at one point, he was a _really_ close friend of mine! He deserves a second chance.”

Sollux sighed and turned to his laptop. “Fine, but I’m coming with you.”

Feferi smiled. “Thanks, Sollux.” she told him sweetly.

“I’m doing thith for you, not him.” he muttered to himself, a rather noticeable blush spreading across his face.

“Sollux, before you drag your ass over to Eridan, remember that you _still_ need to find Gamzee.” Karkat reminded him.

“I already found him.”

“You _what!?_ ” Karkat yowled.

“I wath going to tell you but then you thtarted throwing a tantrum.”

 

* * *

 

_Karkat flinched as the buzzing needle approached his face._

_“G-Gamzee, do you really have to tattoo me here?” he stuttered, moving away from the tattoo machine. “Can’t it be on my arm or something?” Gamzee shook his head and smiled. “Gotta be motherfucking creative for my best motherfucking friend.” he told him._

_Karkat didn’t want to admit it, but he was scared._

_I mean, who wants that needle on their face?_

_Gamzee brushed away some of Karkat’s bangs and he flinched again._

_“Stay still, Karbro.” Gamzee cooed._

_He took a deep breath and tried to calm down._

_Gamzee started on his work and Karkat couldn’t help himself._

_He screamed._

* * *

_“Terezi, what happened to you?!” Karkat exclaimed. The young lady laughed softly and leaned on her cane. “I’m blind.”_

_Karkat gaped at her but then belatedly realized that she couldn’t see his face. “Wha… How?!”_

_“Vriska blinded me after I cut off her arm, after she nearly killed Aradia and Sollux, which was after Aradia nearly drove Vriska insane with her mind tricks and illusions of the dead, which was after Tavr-”_

_Karkat groaned. “Terezi, I know all that.”_

_He awkwardly watched as Terezi felt around, and sat down next to him on his bed. “I quit, by the way.” she said softly. Karkat snorted. “Who wouldn’t?”_

_He fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. He felt Terezi shift and ignored her, immersing himself in his own thoughts._

_He felt her fingers on his face and instinctively flinched._

_He heard her laugh again. “Don’t worry, Karkles, it’s just me.”_

_He relaxed. A little._

_Her hands pushed away his bangs and traced his tattoo._

_“We sure fucked up, didn’t we?” she asked him._

* * *

“Gamzee, I highly suggest that you come out of the shadows and show yourself.” Equius called.

Silently, he dropped down in front of them.

“Let’s make this motherfucking easy. Nepeta, you come with me, Equius, don’t motherfucking move.”

Equius gritted his teeth, and Nepeta piped up. “I don’t know what you want, but I’m _not_ coming with you.” she declared.

Gamzee shrugged. “Guess I’ll have to do this the motherfucking hard way, then.” he growled.

In just a few moments he had Equius struggling to get up from the ground and Nepeta trying to break out of his grasp.

“Gamzee, put her down.” Equius commanded.

“You’re telling _me_ what to do? A MOTHERFUCKING PEASANT, doesn’t tell his master what to do.” He hurled a club and it rammed into the side of Equius’s head, who crumpled to the ground.

Nepeta screamed and slashed Gamzee across his face. The man just smiled at her as if he felt no pain at all.

Nepeta glanced at the form at the ground and choked back a sob.

All she had wanted to do was settle down and live a nice life, but curiosity had dropped her right in the middle of this chaos.

"Time to motherfucking go, kitty.”

Might as well consider _this_ cat dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cliffhanger what cliffhanger  
> i don't write cliffhangers what are you talking about


	19. Countdown to a Critical Miss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again.  
> Have a 1X UPDATE COMBO!  
> Well it's not really a combo, but...  
> ENJOY  
> AND THANKS FOR READING

_He had started to avoid her._

_Speaking to her would only make matters worse, he thought._

_So as she kept trying to reach for him, he kept pushing back._

_He ended up pushing her too far._

_He had finally decided to tell her his true feelings about her._

_His hands were clammy and he realized that he had trouble breathing normally._

_Calm down, stop being an idiot._

_“Hey, Fef.” he greeted._

_She turned and gave him a trademark smile. “Oh, hi Eridan!”_

_Dammit stop making this harder._

_“You know, we barely talk like we used to. We were such good friends, what happened?” she probed._

_“…W-well… That’s sort of w-what I w-wanted to talk about.” he blurted._

_Seriously, if he didn’t calm down now, he’d be sweatier than Equius._

_She motioned for him to sit next to her and Eridan took a breath._

_“So…” He cleared his throat._

_“So?” Feferi prompted._

_“W-well, the reason w-why I w-was av-voidin’ you, sort of, w-was because, I w-well…” he answered, his tongue stumbling and tripping over the words._

_“Eridan, just spit it out!” Feferi exclaimed._

_“Okay, okay! I just really like you, alright? Like, more than friends, you know-w?” he finally spluttered._

_She wasn’t saying anything back._

_Eridan hoped that she was speechless with joy, not disgust._

_“Eridan, I…” she started. She sighed and tried again. “Eridan, I don’t feel the same way._

_“Alright then.” he replied, shrugging as if it didn’t matter._

_But it did._

_It hurt._

Eridan groaned.

_It hurt a lot._

He had been drifting in out of consciousness for who knows how damn long.

He had managed to pull himself into a lopsided sitting position, albeit coughing up blood.

He numbly wondered if the universe was feeding him his memories to further prolong his suffering.

_Well fuck you, universe. Get it over with._

He sighed, drifting off again.

_He had never liked Sollux. It was almost as if they were meant to be pitted against each other._

_The fact that he was going out with Fef just further fueled the furnace of Eridan’s fury._

_So he was going settle things once and for all._

_A duel. Sollux accepted the challenge, his stupid lenses glinting in the light._

_Eridan had laughed silently to himself. What could a bunch of measly throwing stars do against a rifle?_

_They had met on the roof of the warehouse. There was no meeting that night. They were alone._

_Sollux acknowledged him with a nod._

“Eridan?”

_He pulled out his rifle and_

“Eridan!?”

_A bullet fired, a star thrown_

Something leaned over him. He lazily blinked and decided not to care.

He was moving, for some reason.

Why would he do that?

It hurt.

“Stop.” he mumbled.

“Eridan, we’re going to call an ambulance, okay?”

“Just leav-ve me alone. ‘m not important.” he slurred, a cough racking his entire body.

They kept making him keep his eyes open, so that he wouldn’t drift away again.

“Leav-ve me… alone.” he whispered. He didn’t want to actually be alone though. He just wanted the pain to go away, to stop following him everywhere he went. What with the agony of all of his lost hopes, couldn't he just have this one last solace?

_Let me sleep.  
_

 

* * *

 

 “Feferi says that they got Eridan!” Aradia announced from the back of Tavros’s car.

“Is he alive?” Karkat called from the front. Aradia was about to answer when the entire car lurched as Terezi made a sharp left turn.

“Terezi, I changed my mind, _I’ll_ drive.” Karkat commanded through gritted teeth. Terezi shook her head and cackled. “Karkles, you drive too slowly. If you want to get there fast, there’s no need to be careful.”

“You’re a fucking cop!” Karkat shrieked as she made another turn.

“This is in the name of justice!” Terezi declared.

As Karkat released a stream of expletives, Tavros fidgeted in the back.

“Are you alright?” Kanaya asked him.

He sighed. “It’s just that uh, all of you guys seem to know exactly what to do. Someone gets, um, kidnapped, and you guys just hop in my van and drive off to help. I was never, uh, made for this. Not the gang, not this.”

Kanaya listened and sighed to herself. Tavros had come from a perfectly normal life, with two parents in charge of him and three siblings. He had not been the youngest nor the oldest. A shy boy, completely unprepared for what came in his future.

“Sometimes I think, if Vriska didn’t uh, come along and, um, pressure me into following her and joining, I wouldn’t have to go through all this.” he continued.

Kanaya was about to say something comforting, perhaps to calm his nerves, but suddenly a small smile bloomed on his face as he ran a hand along his robotic thigh. “But I guess I got to make a lot of, uh, friends. And even though my legs got broken, well, I got robot legs! And that’s, uh, pretty great.”

He looked up with a flicker of determination and confidence in his eyes. “And I _can_ fight, uh, pretty well.” he declared. Turning to her, he added, “Thanks for uh, listening, Kanaya.”

“No problem.” she replied. This was an odd time to reflect on the past and build up confidence, though.

Oh, what was she thinking, it was the _perfect_ time to reflect on the past. After all, here they were, driving to what could be a final confrontation with a person that they once knew as their leader.

She looked over the people sitting comfortably in the van.

Karkat, she knew, had been in an orphanage avoiding adoption before he joined. Sollux was an orphan as well, but he had wandered the streets until he had met Karkat.

Terezi’s mother had given birth to her at a relatively young age, and died when Terezi was a child. Terezi had been taken into foster care, but Terezi always ran away from each home. She did not speak of the subject very often, so Kanaya never knew _why_ she had constantly made her escape.

Aradia… To this day, Kanaya had no idea where she came from. She had heard something about her running away from her father, but did not know if this rumor held any truth. Somehow, she had found their gang. She sort of just appeared one night and that was that.

Speaking of Aradia… “Aradia, do you have any misgivings about the inevitable confrontation ahead?” Kanaya inquired.

Aradia shrugged and smiled. “I won’t fight, but I will try to help as much as I can! Besides, I just really want to see how this crazy, possibly bloody fight will turn out.” she said, her smile widening to an off-putting grin.

Kanaya shook her head slightly in disbelief; after recovering from her depression, Aradia was even cheerier than her pre-accident self, as well as a bit creepier.

Back to reflecting on the past, then.

Eridan was wealthy but felt like the gang allowed him to do what he did best (fighting… and killing she supposed). Equius came from a highly traditional, high class family, but felt like he had no other purpose in life he could pursue. Feferi was partly forced to join, but she also joined to spite her mother.

Vriska was forced but it was not as if free will was not involved.

And Kanaya…

She had a lovely mother, and a father who was often away but was kind and loving nevertheless.

Then her mother disappeared and her father could not bear the loss, and stopped visiting.

Then all of a sudden Kanaya had nothing.

Except for the few friends she had made in the various orphanages and streets. They told her about the gang they were starting, and Kanaya agreed to join. It was better than trying to piece her life back together.

“Everybody wake up, we’re fucking here.” Karkat snapped.

 

* * *

 

“Guys, get over here right now!”

Karkat was so surprised that Tavros didn’t utter one damn filler word in his sentence that he wasn’t able to fully comprehend the actual thing.

Terezi waved a hand in front of his face and he snapped back to reality.

“I’m coming, don’t fucking die on me before I get there!” Karkat yelled.

Tavros looked pretty pale, but hey, these lamps barely worked.

Then he looked where Tavros was pointing and somehow managed to not have a heart attack.

He was sick of seeing blood everywhere.

Only recently was he finally able to get some sort of sleep without waking constantly in a cold sweat.

And speaking of sweat!

Aradia and Kanaya rushed over to a man Karkat never expected to be suffering any sort of injury.

“I am fine.” Equius insisted. “I just have a small wound on my head, and my ribs suffered a minor injury as well. There is no need for panic nor you touching me.”

Karkat facepalmed and glared at him. “If you’re fine, get up and walk, idiot.” he growled.

Kanaya faced Karkat. “His ‘small wound’ is bleeding profusely, and his ribs might be fractured.” she stated. She grabbed a strip of cloth from her bag and tied it around Equius’s head despite his protests.

Aradia helped him stand and he stiffened at her every touch.

“Where is Nepeta?” he asked.

They looked at each other uneasily. “Uh.” Tavros started brilliantly.

Equius froze, as if he had suddenly remembered something.

“Gamzee.” he uttered quietly. Karkat felt a shiver down his spine. There was a lot of rage simmering underneath that one statement.

“He’s nearby.” Terezi informed him.

“Where?” Equius hissed.

 

* * *

  

 Nepeta opened her eyes and wished that a bleeding face wasn’t the first thing she saw.

“Go away.” she whispered.

His eyes widened and a demented grin played on his lips. “Good morning.” he told her, despite it clearly being nighttime.

She tried to get away from him, only to realize that she was tied to a chair.

How convenient.

She groaned and threw her head back. “What do you want?” she asked.

“You’re going to be my motherfucking assistant, kitty.” he drawled.

She hissed at him. “Don’t call me that. Also, I don’t want to be your assistant.”

He frowned, then smiled again. “You don’t have a choice.”

All of a sudden, he was behind her, playing with her hair.

Nepeta wished she still had her old hat from her childhood… or maybe not, since it made her look more like a cat.

“But you’re missing something.” he whispered in her ear. Then he was gone.

Where did he go this time? She craned her head around, looking for a sign of the man.

And what was she missing?

He returned with an odd device in his hands.

She saw a needle and silently panicked.

He pressed something and a droning sound filled her ears, reminding her of a drill.

“What are you doing?” she shrieked.

“Just stay still.”

She tried moving the chair back, tried to lean as far away as possible as the needle approached.

“N-no, go away!” she yelled.

He started to pull down the collar of her shirt and she bit his hand. He roared and backhanded her across the face.

“I SAID STAY MOTHERFUCKING STILL.” he yelled.

He wrenched her collar down, exposing her collarbone.

Her fang stung, and she decided not to hold back any tears.

The buzzing of the needle became louder, and she squeezed her eyes shut.


	20. Have no Fear, Your Princess is Here

“Okay, that’s great. I guess. I mean, I’m glad it wasn’t a trap or anything. No, I was not worrying! Look, I’m in the middle of something way more important, so talk to you later.” Karkat snapped into the phone, then hung up.

“Eridan’s fine.” he told the others. Then he frowned and added, “Well, he’s not _fine_ , he’s almost fucking dead, but he’s in the hospital.”

The others nodded and Karkat looked at Equius uneasily. The man had been completely silent throughout their trek toward Gamzee’s location. He never was a talkative person, but he just stared ahead, fists clenching and unclenching.

When they told him where Gamzee was he nearly bolted off despite his wounds. It took all of them to hold him back and keep him from trying to take down Gamzee injured and alone. Since then Karkat was trying to formulate some sort of plan, anything to keep them from blindly rushing in.

_Maybe we could do what we did before, and come in from different sides? But there’s no entrance to that warehouse besides the front and back doors. We might know our former “headquarters” by heart, but so does Gamzee. Damn it, why did he have to go and-_

A yell pierced the air and interrupted his thoughts.

“Nepeta!” Equius exclaimed, and this time they were unable to react fast enough to hold him back.

“Shit, Equius, don’t!” Karkat yelled.

They ran after him, a few with weapons drawn.

Karkat just hoped they weren’t about to run headlong into chaos.

… What was he thinking, they were _always_ running headlong into chaos!

Karkat heard Equius call Nepeta’s name again and swore under his breath as he ran to catch up with the others.

 

* * *

 

 

“Nepeta!” Equius exclaimed as the girl leapt into his arms.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” she whispered into his ear.

He paused, then asked, “Nepeta, though I am overjoyed that you are safe, how were you able to abscond from Gamzee?”

She buried her head in his shoulder. “I… well… I bit his hand, and then I fought a bit, and then I ran as fast as I could away.” she murmured.

That meant that he could show up any minute. He turned to go back to the others, Nepeta still in his arms.

“Equius?”

“Yes?”

“What happened to your head?”

Oh. In all the commotion he had forgotten about his head injury.

And the throbbing pain in his side.

“It is just a small cut.” he assured her, but perhaps he was assuring himself.

She looked up at him and shook her head. He shrugged as best as he could while holding her.

The others rushed over and Karkat looked like he was going to explode when he caught sight of Nepeta.

“Hi.” Nepeta greeted. She sounded incredibly worn out; Equius shifted so that she would be more comfortable, ignoring the ache in his side.

“Where’s Gamzee?” Terezi questioned.

Nepeta opened her mouth but Equius was the one who spoke.

“He is probably not too far behind. We should leave.” he told them.

Terezi clenched her fists and muttered something no one could hear. Karkat gave her a look and jerked his hand back, motioning for them to get a move on.

They hurried back to the van, occasionally throwing looks behind them to make sure they weren’t being pursued.

Terezi clambered into the driver’s seat but was almost immediately wrenched away by Karkat. “You are _not_ driving this time.” he growled.

She sighed. “Karkles, now is not the time to fight over seats. You just aren’t meant for driving a getaway car!”

As Karkat spluttered and attempted to fabricate a decent comeback, Kanaya shoved both of them away.

“Enough! _I_ will drive, and believe me, I am fully capable of driving a ‘getaway car’ as you called it, Terezi.” Kanaya snapped.

The two of them glanced at each other uneasily.

“I call shotgun!” Terezi screeched, breaking the silence.

Kanaya just shook her head and started up the car.

This time Aradia, Tavros, and Karkat sat in the middle seats as Equius and Nepeta took the very back seats.

“So… what happened with Gamzee?” Aradia asked, looking like a child waiting for a bedtime story.

Nepeta shrugged and looked at the ground. “Not much.”

Equius watched her, concerned.

She looked at him and attempted a smile. “But I’ve decided that I _never_ want a tattoo.”

Karkat visibly stiffened but said nothing.

Nepeta bit her lip and continued. “Also. I want to know what this is all about!” she exclaimed.

They all looked at Karkat, except for Kanaya, of course.

He sighed. “Why do _I_ have to be the one to explain all this shit?” Nobody replied, so he sighed again and turned in his seat to face Nepeta.

“Alright, you asked for it.” he began.

“Once upon a fucking time there were a bunch of messed up kids. And by messed up, I mean that they had some pretty shitty lives in one way or another. For example, I lost my parents and was forced to live in an orphanage. Some of us had sob stories like that: death of a loved one, no home, fending for ourselves in a cruel world, you get the gist. Others were pretty well off but had nothing to do with their lives. A few were forced to get into this mess. Aradia… I have no fucking idea what your deal is, but I guess something bad must’ve happened. Anyway! Our lives were shit and we wanted a change. We wanted to be important. So slowly, we all met this seemingly harmless guy who is none other than… Gamzee! What a fucking surprise.” Karkat took a moment to take a breath and then continued.

“We all met together at one point, as a group. And Gamzee offered us the choice to do something, to stop those people that made our lives and others’ horrible. Seems like a noble cause, huh? Wrong. At first we were all pretty excited to do it. Get revenge on people, make them pay. Maybe it was because we felt important all of a sudden, being part of a group, being someone that wasn’t some poor kid people looked down on, because the fact that we were _fucking killing people_ didn’t bother us at all. Well, until it seemed that we were crossing the line. We were killing people that had nothing to do with anything, but Gamzee kept telling us we were doing the right thing.”

Karkat sighed once more. “Gamzee… he was a good friend of mine. I was the first to find him; it was one of the days that I snuck out of the orphanage. I always believed in everything that he said, _especially_ since he was older than me. Still, I started doubting this whole thing. If everything that we were doing was right, why did I feel horrible? How come I couldn’t get any goddamn sleep because all this killing crap was haunting my brain? But I had no idea what to do, where to go. As we all grew older, we pursued different paths during the day, getting jobs and some their own homes. I hopped around from job to job; I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. As time went on, I began to notice things about Gamzee. He seemed more… dangerous, more volatile. Sometimes the way he spoke would almost make me shit my pants, actually. If someone showed up late he would flip his shit, and if someone didn’t come one night, heh, you better stay the fuck away. He started talking about how we could strike fear into the hearts of the public, how we could rule the streets. But I didn’t want to rule any streets, or freak people out. I was tired, mentally and physically. But I had nowhere to go, or so I thought.”

His eyes drifted down to the top of his seat, his hand idly tracing patterns as he kept speaking.

“Then Gamzee got some fucking brilliant idea to tattoo us all. It would show that we were forever bound to the group. He chose zodiac signs since we conveniently had all the signs but one.” Nepeta bit her lip. “So the idiot artist went ahead and worked his ‘miracles’. Two for Sollux, on his wrists. Terezi on her collarbone, and as you can see, on the arm for Aradia. Tavros had it on his side, Kanaya on her leg. Eridan has it near his neck, but you can’t tell because of his fucking scarf. Feferi had it on her back, and Vriska had it on… her, uh, lower back. Equius on his shoulder, and Gamzee on his chest. I’m not sure how Gamzee did his; maybe he asked someone else to do it? I hear he has some mysterious as shit brother but who knows. Anyway…” Nepeta cut him off with a question.

“Where did you have it? The tattoo, I mean.”

Karkat grimaced and swept away his bangs to reveal the grey Cancer sign. “Getting it on your fucking face is highly unadvised.” he muttered angrily, covering it up again.

“ _Anyway_ , as I was saying, that tattoo thing was kind of the last straw. Like I had a bucket of water or something, and it was the one drop that made it overflow. It hurt a whole fucking lot and Gamzee didn’t even give a shit. So I left. And I guess that let the others know that they could leave as well, because slowly but surely people started to leave. Some crap happened to a few people who left, namely Tavros. After Vriska broke his legs, it started a huge chain of revenge that screwed a bunch of us over.”

He paused again. “We started to live relatively normal lives, but they still weren’t _completely_ normal. We still had to deal with the shit that had happened, and decided we would keep the remaining assholes from causing anymore chaos. Sometimes we were able to, other times, not so much.”

Karkat stopped talking, and Nepeta waited for him to continue.

He gave her and odd look and stated, “That’s it, I’m done.”

Equius spoke up. “Before I met you, I still was in the group. Shortly after I made your acquaintance, I left as well. Vriska seemed to have left as well.”

Karkat frowned. “Actually, I think that she might have backstabbed us. Nepeta, did you happen to see Vriska anywhere?”

Nepeta shook her head and Kanaya spoke up from the front. “Karkat, I thought I told you not to jump to conclusions.”

Karkat scowled. “Well then, give me some fucking _proof_ that she hasn’t- oh well shit.”

Kanaya had turned for a moment to toss her phone at Karkat. Dumbfounded, he stared at the text messages.

_If Karkat is flipping his shit, tell him that I’m so very sorry. I had to deal with spidermom._

_…I settled things with her. That’s all I’m going to say right now._

Karkat read the text aloud, then commented, “This could be a lie.”

“Or, it could be true.” Aradia pointed out. “Karkat, just let bygones be bygones. Our main problem is one person and one person alone, and we don’t need to be fighting amongst ourselves!”

Karkat leaned back in his seat. “I know.” he grumbled.

As the van drove on and conversations went on and off, Nepeta found herself drifting off on Equius’s shoulder. He shifted and she ended up curling up next to him. After all that stress, Nepeta was pretty sure she deserved a nap where she was relatively safe.

 


	21. Critical Moment

Vriska leaned on a wall, grateful for the meager shelter that the awning above provided. It was raining, of course. That’s how it worked: whenever shit went down the sky decided to offer its own ominous and dramatic backdrop.

She looked down once more at her hands, as if imagining that the gun was still tightly gripped between her fingers.

She supposed that she felt guilty. Remorse, even.

Oh, who was she kidding?

If there was anything she was feeling right now, it was relief. She no longer had to worry about someone ruling her life. Just one less iron in the fire to care about.

Besides relief, she decided that she was pretty bored, too.

She wondered what all that fuss was about with Karkat and his meeting. She was pretty sure that Karkat just set up those meetings so that he could boss everyone around.

That, and for sentimental reasons like friendship.

_Do I care about that kind of stuff?_ Vriska mulled over.

A familiar van came into view and a slight smile bloomed on her lips.

_I guess I do._

* * *

 

Vriska clambered into the van, a bit wet from her short trek in the rain. She flipped her hair characteristically over her shoulder, sending droplets flying at her fellow passengers.

“Hey.” she greeted matter-of-factly.

Aradia waved cheerfully, Tavros squeaked a “hi”, and Karkat grunted. She noticed Nepeta sleeping in the back, along with an unsurprisingly silent Equius. She took in his appearance and turned as Terezi spoke up.

“Nice of you to join the party. Anything worth mentioning on your side?” She questioned.

Vriska shrugged and replied with a question of her own, “Nope, how about you guys?”

Karkat decided to take the reins on this inquiry, and she inwardly winced.

“Oh, not much at all. It’s not like Eridan was beaten to a fucking pulp or anything, and Equius clearly didn’t get his ass handed to him, nope! And there’s no way Nepeta was fucking _kidnapped_ so that the clown asshole could perform his “miracles”, no, that would be fucking _insane_! Oh, and of course Nepeta didn’t somehow manage to escape and cause us to hightail out of there before all hell broke loose via a demented, face painting, clown weirdo. You didn’t miss anything at all!” he ranted.

Wow. “I get it, calm your tits.” she told him. “Next time I’m facing off my mother I’ll excuse myself nicely and come to your aid, because clearly you can’t manage anything without me.”

Karkat fumed and scowled. “That wasn’t my point, idiot.” he growled, but Vriska waved him off.

“So, what happened to your mother?” Aradia asked.

Vriska shrugged again and attempted to change the subject. “So, what’s our brilliant plan now?”

That seemed to do the trick; Karkat immediately stopped scowling and adopted a more thoughtful look. “Well, we might as well get Equius to the hospital-” Equius broke into the conversation. “Excuse my interruption, but I do not require any medical assistance.” he stated.

Karkat glared at him. “I don’t fucking care, the last thing I need is our wellspring of brute strength collapsing because he thought that he was perfectly fine.”

Equius sighed and crossed his arms. “But where will Nepeta go? Gamzee knows where my place of residence is, and therefore she is unable to spend the night there. I highly doubt the hospital allows those that are not patients somewhere to sleep.”

Vriska snickered under her breath. As soon as the conversation revolved around Nepeta, all of a sudden Mr. Macho became chatty. He was almost like an overprotective father.

Okay, the thought of Equius as a father was so funny in Vriska’s mind that she had to keep herself from laughing aloud. Tavros gave her an odd look and she bit the insides of her cheeks to prevent herself from cracking up.

“ _Anyway,_ as I was saying before I was interrupted, we go to the hospital. And…” Here he stopped.

“And?” Terezi prompted.

“We’ll figure out the rest there.” Karkat declared.

Vriska began to clap slowly. “That must have been the _best_ plan I have _ever_ heard.” Vriska said, with so much sarcasm dripping from her voice that it could have formed a small puddle on the floor.

“Shut up.”

Vriska decided that now was a good time to break out laughing.

 

* * *

 

Nepeta opened her eyes, then closed them shortly thereafter.

Wait a minute, why was it so bright?

Her eyes snapped open once more, realizing that her surroundings had completely changed.

Luckily, there were people milling around, so she assumed that she was probably not anywhere especially horrible.

She sat up and found Kanaya sitting beside her.

“Um.” Nepeta said, trying to catch her attention.

The woman promptly looked up and offered the younger girl a smile. “Oh, hello Nepeta. I trust you had a restful nap?”

“Yeah, I guess.” she replied.

“We are in a hospital right now, Karkat insisted that Equius get looked over.” Kanaya explained.

Nepeta nodded absentmindedly and turned at an odd noise. Oh, there was Terezi, doodling in a notebook.

Wait, that wasn’t a notebook, it was a small slate upon which Terezi was doodling in chalk.

If she was blind… how? Okay, Nepeta was done questioning the actions of these people.

She spotted Aradia chatting with a nurse and Tavros fidgeting uncomfortable near Vriska, who she probably missed seeing join them in her sleep.

Oh, and there was Karkitt- no, Nepeta, _Karkat_ stalking back toward them with two other friends in tow.

She heard a shriek and nearly screamed herself as someone rammed into her.

“Nepeta!! I’m _so_ glubbing glad that you’re okay!!” an overexcited Feferi squealed, nearly suffocating Nepeta with her hug.

“T-thanks… but can you please… let go?” Nepeta managed, gasping for breath as Feferi released her.

“What are you two doing here?” Nepeta asked after she was able to talk normally once more. Feferi and Sollux shot Karkat a look, who rolled his eyes and motioned for them to reply.

“Whale… Eridan got beat up reelly badly by Gamzee, so we went to help him out! He also was the one that told us aboat Gamzee’s plan to kidnap you, since Gamzee told him to do it but he refused.” Feferi explained.

Nepeta wasn’t sure how to process that information, especially with those fish puns thrown in. “Oh.” she replied.

“Tho what’th the plan?” Sollux inquired. Karkat scowled and fidgeted. “Plan? Right, the plan. First things first, Nepeta needs a place to go since she’ll just get murdered at Equius’s. Any volunteers?”

Terezi’s hand shot up, nearly knocking the slate of her lap. “Pick me, Karkles!” she exclaimed, her signature grin plastered on her face. Feferi raised her hand as well but Karkat waved her off. “First come first serve.” he told her.

Nepeta was mildly confused, but managed to figure out what was going on. Equius probably had to stay the night, and Gamzee probably knew where he lived, which meant that Nepeta had to stay with someone else.

She wasn’t disappointed over the fact that Karkat didn’t automatically take it upon himself to let her stay the night at his place.

No, that was a completely silly thought! Nepeta did not even dream of this scenario taking place.

Not at all.

_Oh my god, there is a psycho murderous clown who wants to kidnap and brainwash you; now is not the time to daydream about staying the night with Karkat!!_

Nepeta snapped back to reality and shifted in her seat. “Um… how long does Equius have to stay at the hospital?” she asked hurriedly.

“Hopefully, no more than two dayth.” Sollux declared.

“And Eridan?” This was from Karkat.

“I don’t know, but obviouthly a while. And thince when did you thtart caring tho much about that dick?” Sollux replied, raising an eyebrow. “Weren’t you out to murder him when he nearly killed FF and Kanaya?”

Karkat flung his arms in the air in what seemed to be exasperation. “Look, he’s a complete asshole and everyone knows it. And yes, I did want to murder him and I still want cause him some decent pain. But I think by now he’s gotten enough and it would be pretty fucking rude for me to hurt someone currently passed out on a hospital bed. Also, in case you haven’t noticed, I am technically the leader of this group. And as the leader of the group, I have the right to care about every member of the group, no matter how fucking stupid they are.” Karkat ranted.

Nepeta heard claps and whirled her head toward Vriska, who was slowly clapping her hands. “Another stunning performance by Karkat Vantas.” she announced. Karkat flipped her off with both hands.

Kanaya cleared her throat, catching everyone’s attention. “I do not want to interrupt whatever is going on here, but may I ask why we are sitting and standing around here if everyone is accounted for?”

Karkat opened his mouth then closed it.

He then sighed, and made a shooing motion with his hands. “She’s right, go home, there’s nothing left to do but wait for Gamzee to make another move.”

“Why can’t we just find him now?”

Karkat did a double take and whirled around to face a smiling Aradia.

“Because it’s late and most of us are tired.” Terezi supplied. “Come on, Nepeta. You up for a walk to my place?” Nepeta nodded and they stood up.

“Wait, I’ll come wi-” Karkat started, but Terezi waved him off with her cane.

As they left, Vriska spoke up again. “Rejeeeeeeeected!” she sang.

“Shut the fuck up.”

 

* * *

 

Nepeta lounged on the couch, her limbs sprawled across the colorful pillows. Terezi sat in a nearby chair, propping up her feet on the edge of the couch. The afternoon sun shone some rays through the partly covered windows.

“Don’t you have to go to work?” Nepeta asked, yawning a little.

Terezi shook her head and laughed. “I asked for some vacation time. It’s not like they could say no; I work harder than almost everyone in that place. Besides, they know that if something big comes up, I’ll get there one way or another. Wanna watch cartoons?”

The sudden change of subject came as a surprise to Nepeta. “Wha- I guess? I mean, sure!”

Terezi grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned the TV on, then punched in a channel number.

Some characters flashed on screen before the show promptly moved to a commercial. They both groaned and Terezi started to just randomly flip channels.

Something (actually, someone) sickeningly familiar flashed on the screen before Terezi moved on. “Wait! Go back!” Nepeta cried. Terezi obeyed and they watched (and smelled, in Terezi’s case) in dread at the scene in front of them.

“-has been brutally killing for no discernable reason. The police have been unable to catch the man, as he seems to be extremely adept at escaping their grasp. He allegedly has three long gashes on his face along with face paint. If you see this man, notify the police immediately.”

The man on screen paused for a moment, and began to speak again.

Before he could finish his sentence, an explosion tore through the building behind him, tossing him onto the ground as well as the camera.

As flames licked the building and panicked citizens screamed and ran, someone approached the camera.

They picked it up and held it face level.

Nepeta squeaked.

_Gamzee_.

“Hey there motherfuckers.” he breathed.

“I’m talking to a specific group right here, so all you other motherfuckers that are all up and staring at the screen now, you don’t have to get your worry on. Ain’t I just motherfucking CONSIDERATE?” Gamzee continued with a grin.

“Now, my brothers and sisters… I’m motherfucking tired of all the things you’re doing to my plans. I’ll make it real easy for you. Come, and surrender, and I’ll stop the delirious chaos from running through this town.” here he paused, and his malicious grin stretched wider.

“Otherwise… WELCOME TO THE MOTHERFUCKING DARK CARNIVAL, SISTERS AND BROTHERS.”

And with that, Terezi shut off the television.

“There goes my vacation.”

 

* * *

 

This time, nobody spoke as the car rode to their designated meeting area, none other than their “beloved” headquarters.

Karkat wasn’t sure if he should feel ridiculous, being in a car with nine other people as if it was some sort of road trip, or terrified of the inevitable fight ahead.

Terezi had immediately called, and it was the fastest that they had all gathered together. Terezi and Nepeta had picked up Equius (Eridan was in _no_ shape to fight) and Nepeta and Equius allegedly bickered back and forth over the fact that Nepeta was going.

But Nepeta blatantly refused to stay and Equius was forced to give in due to time constraints.

Karkat was glad for the extra help. Usually he would laugh over the fact that ten people were going to face one, but Gamzee was an exception. Ten against him was a fair fight.

Oh, whom was he kidding, they were all fucking _screwed_.

He let out an involuntary sigh and leaned his head back, looking at Sollux. His friend looked down, his face etched with unease.

“Hey.” Karkat whispered. Speaking quietly felt odd, but he didn’t really feel like having everyone listen to him talk. “Do you think that we have a chance?”

“Of courthe we have a chance.” Sollux replied. That was a weird thing for Sollux to say. Karkat remembered how pessimistic the boy had been when they were younger. It had always been Karkat yelling at him that everything was _not_ doomed. Later, when they met Feferi and Aradia, Karkat had feared that they would take his place.

But here they were, still friends.

Karkat hoped that Sollux wasn’t just trying to reassure him. Maybe he was reassuring himself.

“We’re here.” Vriska announced from the front as Kanaya stopped the car.

There was a pause as they glanced at each other.

“Alright, enough sitting on our asses. Let’s go.” Karkat growled.

They clambered out of the van, weapons drawn. The warehouse loomed above them. Karkat took a deep breath and motioned for the others to follow as he threw open the doors.

As soon as they were all in, the lights were shut off and Karkat heard a click behind him signaling a locked door.

The lights turned on again, dimly illuminating the area.

A silhouette sat on a stack of boxes, chuckling darkly.

Stupid fucking mind games, trying to throw them off balance.

“We’re here, Gamzee.” Karkat called out.

The figure hopped off his post and approached.

“So… lay down your weapons and motherfucking surrender.” Gamzee offered.

Karkat shook his head and gripped his sickle. “Gamzee, there’s really no need to go on a murderous rampage because of all this. Just stop; things won’t go back to the way they were.” he said, attempting to reason with him.

Gamzee grabbed a fistful of Karkat’s shirt and lifted him a little. “Don’t even motherfucking try.” he hissed. “I marked you, you all belong to me. AND ONLY MOTHERFUCKING ME. You don’t have the right to disobey me anymore. I’m DONE with letting you get away with your BLASPHEMOUS MUTINY.”

Karkat glared at him and brought his arm around to violently elbow him in the face. Gamzee let go of him with a muttered curse and the others quickly surrounded him.

“Gamzee, you can stop this. I know you can. Killing people isn’t right at all.” Karkat told him.

“SHUT THE MOTHERFUCK UP.” Gamzee roared, then lunged at Karkat.

Terezi intercepted him and parried his club with her blade. “It’s motherfucking funny how a blind girl thinks she can fight.” Gamzee spat, aiming a kick. She dodged but Gamzee had expected that movement and swung his club into her side. She flew back as someone rammed into Gamzee.

“Now, what do we have here?” Gamzee laughed. Tavros faced him, fists clenched in uncharacteristic rage. “Tavros, move out of the way. I don’t want you to motherfucking hurt yourself.”

Tavros replied by shoving his foot into Gamzee’s side. Karkat swore he heard something snap. The man stumbled back a little before scowling and hurling a club at his adversary.

Before it could reach Tavros, Kanaya jumped in and cleaved it in half, her chainsaw revved up and roaring.

Karkat felt like he should warn her not to kill, because murder seemed to be everything on her mind.

Gamzee seemed to sense it as well, because he decided not to hurl anymore insults and instead watched the approaching woman warily.

She sprang forward and Gamzee jumped out of the way at the last second, the chainsaw tearing his shirt.

As soon as he landed he was shoved to the side and he felt claws rake against his skin.

“Ain’t that just motherfucking cute.” Gamzee drawled as he faced both Equius and Nepeta. “You motherfuckers are working _together_! Might as well as get rid of you the same way.”

_Whack!_

Gamzee’s statement would have been especially threatening if it weren’t for the staff that swung up into his chin.

Feferi glared at him and swung her staff again, but this time Gamzee grabbed it and wrenched it out of her grasp, throwing her off balance.

Before Gamzee could retaliate, though, a shuriken whizzed in front of his face. He turned, only to have the staff in his hand yanked out of his grip.

Aradia smiled and waved as she caught the staff that she nabbed with her whip. “Thank you very much!” she exclaimed.

All of a sudden two knives darted toward him, pinning his sleeves to the wall. Six more knives were thrown, preventing him from immediately breaking away. Vriska’s glasses glinted as she offered him a smirk.

Gamzee growled. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. He was supposed to be the one on top, not the one who got pushed around by everyone. He wrenched the knives from his sleeves and tossed them to the ground.

“So you all up and gang up on me, huh? You’re all motherfucking safe in your little group.” Gamzee spat, glaring at them all. “But I’ll get all of you. You won’t even see it coming; I’LL FIND EACH AND EVERY MOTHERFUCKING ONE OF YOU, and slit your throats.”

Karkat saw him nearing the door. “Don’t let him get away!” he yelled, but it was too late. Gamzee threw open the doors and escaped into the night.

Karkat swore and they all ran toward the exit to try to intercept him, but there was no way they could catch up to him now. All hope for finally bringing this to an end was scattered to the wind.

“I’v-ve got him.” an accented voice said.

“Eridan!?” Karkat exclaimed incredulously.

Gamzee slowly came into view again, with Eridan holding a rifle to the back of his head.

“Wait, but I thought that you could barely move!” Sollux called out, confused.

“W-well, yeah, but I heard about Gamzee and decided that you guys needed me there. The hospital people are goin’ to be pissed, though. I kind of snuck out, and then hired a taxi.”

“But… doesn’t it hurt?” Nepeta asked.

“Of course it fuckin’ hurts.”

Gamzee growled again. “Enough with the motherfucking useless talk.”

Karkat walked up to him and Eridan dropped his rifle slightly. “Look, Gamzee, I don’t want to fucking hurt you. Just give up. Stop all this. Look at the rest of us; we’ve changed, sort of, and we’ve found good, stable lives. Confess your crimes, hang out in jail for a bit, and then move on to a decent life.”

Gamzee laughed, but there was no mirth in his eyes. “Brother, you think I can have a motherfucking decent life?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Gamzee was silent for a moment, but then leapt forward. He grabbed one of Karkat’s sickles and held it near his neck.

“And that’s where you’re motherfucking wrong.” Gamzee stated, and with that, he slashed across his throat and back again.

The sickle clattered to the ground, followed by the body with a loud thud.

As the blood pooled onto the ground, the group watched in shock.

“Did he just…” Nepeta began.

“It is no matter.” Equius said in a low voice. “I truly believe that it is finally over.”


	22. Epilogue

_Plip, plip, plip._

Nepeta woke up to the sound of morning rain and stretched with a yawn. Once again she reflected over how nice it was to have her own room instead of a couch. It had taken them a while to set it up, but now even the house proudly proclaimed her residence there.

She heard some noises in the kitchen and begrudgingly climbed out of bed, tugging on the adorable cat beanie that Kanaya had made her.

Rubbing her eyes, she walked into the kitchen to see Equius making pancakes. She giggled as she remembered the first two times that they had attempted to make pancakes; they almost set the entire kitchen aflame.

She hoped that this time the pancakes would actually be edible.

Equius looked up at her and smiled slightly. As was the usual these days, his sunglasses were missing from his face in the morning. So far he had kept his promise and only showed his eyes to her.

His glasses were still cracked from that encounter with Gamzee so long ago.

To be exact, it had been three years.

After Gamzee’s death, they were all finally able to put the past behind, though they weren’t planning on forgetting.

For a while Karkat had been quiet and brooding; Nepeta had learned that Karkat had once been best friends with Gamzee and had believed that the man could change.

Eventually, with coaxing from his friends he was able to recover and return to his normal self.

Which meant that he was back to pretending that he was angry all the time.

Nobody really minded, and Nepeta herself continued to be head over heels for him, despite the obvious “more than friends” interactions with him and Terezi.

As for Equius’s love life, Nepeta had secretly devised a plan to get Equius and Aradia to go on a date.

This meant that she would arrange for the three of them to go together somewhere and end up ditching them.

She’d have to figure out something about Equius’s nervousness, though.

…Maybe she could just encourage him to ask her out without any debauchery on Nepeta’s part.

Aside Nepeta’s matchmaking plans, the others seemed to be doing just fine. Eridan had recovered from his beating and had secured a job at (surprisingly) a book store. Vriska had gotten ahold of a boat of her own and often went sailing, occasionally racing against Eridan (who she would always beat in one way or another).

Nepeta continued to help Equius in his own job and felt entirely content about where she was now. It was hard to imagine that she had been living in the streets all those years ago.

They went to the “meetings” far more often than before, and sometimes the group would go to other places than Sollux’s store. So far, Nepeta’s favorite was the park.

As Equius declared that he was almost finished with the pancakes, Nepeta slid into a seat and smiled.

Things could not have turned out any better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, my friends, it seems that we have reached the end of this tale.  
> Thank you for your support, and thank you for reading.
> 
>  
> 
> ... And I will probably start on a new story in the coming weeks.


End file.
